What does this simulation model?

Each rhino has a body temperature and a mud-coat coverage value. Ambient heat (time of day) raises body temperature; the wet mud coat cools the animal by evaporation, but that coverage dries out over time, so the herd cycles back to the wallow when they overheat.

How is this different from the 3D version?

It runs the same thermoregulation feedback loop — heat gain, evaporative cooling, drying, and a threshold-triggered return to the mud — through a lightweight top-down Canvas2D view instead of a full Three.js scene.

Home▸Physics & Mechanics▸Rhino Mud Wallow (2D)

🦏 Rhino Mud Wallow (2D)

A top-down thermoregulation model: rhinos heat up under the savanna sun, cool off by wallowing in mud, and dry out again until the herd heads back to the pit.

Physics & Mechanics2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D companion keeps the same thermoregulation feedback loop as the 3D original in a plain top-down view: a control panel exposes the mud build-up rate, the drying/heat-gain rate, wallowing eagerness and herd size, and a live readout tracks average body temperature and mud coverage as the herd walks between grazing, the wallow, and — for the dominant bull — a periodic territory mark.

⚙ Under the hood

Each rhino's body temperature rises with ambient heat (scaled by time of day) and falls with evaporative cooling proportional to mud coverage; the coat dries out over time, and crossing an eagerness-scaled threshold sends the rhino back to the pit to rebuild it.

rhinosmud wallowsthermoregulationanimal behavior

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install