- For another creature called with this name, see medieval unicorn.
The rhinoceros is an animal living in India. It is of similar length as the elephant, but has shorter legs. It has a single short horn upon its snout. Its skin has the color of boxwood (very pale). The rhinoceros is an enemy of the elephant; when it sees its opponent, it sharpens its horn on some rocks and then charges in, attacking the elephant's belly.
In the opinion of Isidore of Seville, rhinoceros and unicorn are different names for the same creature and this became the dominant view throughout the Middle Ages. Marco Polo saw rhinoceroses in Indonesia and was sorely disappointed by their ugliness, so different from the unicorn legend.
Later writers started distinguishing the two creatures, arguing that the difference in the location of the horn (rhinoceros on the nose, unicorn on the forehead) is not a mistake but an accurate observation.