The African rhinoceros is a distinctive animal due to its thick, armored skin and large curved horn.
Rhinoceros means “horned nose”.
The critically endangered black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is also called the hook-lipped rhinoceros.
The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is also called the square-lipped rhinoceros.
Some animals are described as rhinoceros in their scientific or common name because they have a horn that looks like a rhino horn.
Native to South America, the rhinoceros catfish (Pterygoplichthys scrophus) is a fish with a ridged, scaled body and two horn-like projections that look like rhinoceros horns.
The protrusions are actually nostril flaps to prevent water from rising up the nose.
Its body is completely covered with small plates that look like armor.
Native to the Caribbean, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, the rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta) is a large diurnal lizard with a bony horn-like lump on its nose that looks like a rhinoceros horn.
A rhinoceros (left) and a rhinoceros iguana (right)
Rhinoceros Iguana
The rhinoceros chameleon (Furcifer rhinoceratus) from Madagascar is a chameleon lizard with a horn-like nose.
Rhinoceros chameleon (left) and rhinoceros (right)
The rhinoceros horned viper (Bitis nasicornis) is a nocturnal venomous snake native to West and Central Africa.
It has a narrow flat triangular head with two or three horn-like scales at the tip of its nose.
Rhino horned viper
The Gabon viper (Bitis gabonica rhinoceros) is a nocturnal venomous snake from West Africa.
It has a large triangular cream head with a dark blue-black triangle behind and below the eyes.
It has a pair of horn-like structures between its nostrils.
West African Gabon viper
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