Greater One-horned Rhinoceros

Open encyclopedia reference

The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros, great Indian rhinoceros or Indian rhino, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is the second largest living rhinoceros and the largest in Asia, with adult males weighing 2.07–2.2 t (2.04–2.17 long tons; 2.28–2.43 short tons) and adult females 1.6 t (1.6 long tons; 1.8 short tons). Its thick skin is grey-brown with pinkish skin folds. It has a single horn on its snout that grows up to 57.2–61.6 cm (22.5–24.3 in) long. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps, and it is nearly hairless aside from the eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush. The Indian rhinoceros occurs in the Indo-Gangetic Plain in 12 protected areas in northern India and southern Nepal. It is a grazer, eating mainly grass, but also twigs, leaves, branches, shrubs, flowers, fruits and aquatic plants. It is a largely solitary animal, only associating in the breeding season and when rearing calves. Females give birth to a single calf after a gestation of 15.7 months.

Wikipedia contributors, Indian rhinoceros; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:05:33.768130+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Rhinoceros unicornis Linnaeus, 1758

Name authority

Linnaeus, 1758

Common name

Greater One-horned Rhinoceros

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Perissodactyla

Family

Rhinocerotidae

Genus

Rhinoceros

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderPerissodactyla Owen, 1848
12. familyRhinocerotidae Gray, 1821
13. subfamilyRhinocerotinae Gray, 1868
14. genusRhinoceros Linnaeus, 1758
15. speciesRhinoceros unicornis Linnaeus, 1758

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Rhinoceros. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 5 records assigned to Rhinocerotidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=625005 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4S853. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.