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Animal Themes
Endangered Animals Theme Unit
Mammals

Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.8

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    disadvantage, extinction, pronunciation, despite, authority, eyesight, lifetime, encounter, originally, species, almighty, stocky, estimate, substance, rate, tough
     content words:    Second Heaviest Land Animal

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Other Languages
     Spanish: Los Rinocerontes

Rhinoceros   
1     Rhinoceros (or "rhinos" for short) are tough contestants for the title of "World's Second Heaviest Land Animal". While there is no doubt that elephants are the world's heaviest land animals, there is no consensus among scientists about the first place runner-up. Well, this truly is a tough call, because the two finalists - rhinos and hippos - both weigh more than 7,000 pounds!
 
2     Rhinos live in a wide range of environments. Some rhino species take their residence in savannahs, some inhabit open woodlands, and others prefer dense tropical forests. Although rhinos have an intimidating appearance, they are actually vegetarians feeding on grasses, twigs, leaves, and shrubs.
 
3     There are five different species of rhinos; two live in Africa (white rhinos and black rhinos) and three in Asia (Indian rhinos, Javan rhinos, and Sumatran rhinos). White rhinos, black rhinos, and Sumatran rhinos all have two horns, while Indian rhinos and Javan rhinos possess just a single horn. With the exception of Sumatran rhinos, the other four rhino species have almost no hair on their thick skin. All rhinos have short and stocky legs to support their barrel-shaped bodies.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
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