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A giraffe rests by lying with its body on top of its folded legs. [32]: 329 To lie down, the animal kneels on its front legs and then lowers the rest of its body. To get back up, it first gets on its front knees and positions its backside on top of its hindlegs. It then pulls the backside upwards, and the front legs stand straight up again.
The common name derives from the Somali name for the animal (gáránúug); the first recorded use of the name dates back to 1895. [7] It is also known as the "giraffe gazelle" due to its similarity to the giraffe. [8] Two subspecies have been proposed, but these are considered to be independent species by some authors. [3] [9] [10] [11]
To get a sip of water from a water hole, a giraffe will splay its legs in an awkward-looking manner. The one-way valves in their veins prevent blood from flowing to their brain as they lower their ...
The Giraffidae are a family of ruminant artiodactyl mammals that share a recent common ancestor with deer and bovids.This family, once a diverse group spread throughout Eurasia and Africa, presently comprises only two extant genera, the giraffe (between one and eight, usually four, species of Giraffa, depending on taxonomic interpretation) and the okapi (the only known species of Okapia).
Despite her rare neck deformity, Gemina reached an old age for a giraffe. She outlived the average giraffe by almost six years. [2] In December 2007 and January 2008, Gemina stopped eating and her health began to deteriorate due to old age. [2] She was reluctantly euthanized by her keepers at the Santa Barbara Zoo on January 9, 2008. [2] [3]
The okapi is a medium-sized giraffid, standing 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) tall at the shoulder. Its average body length is about 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) and its weight ranges from 200 to 350 kg (440 to 770 lb). [23] It has a long neck, and large and flexible ears.
In okapi, the male's ossicones are smaller in proportion to the head, and taper towards their tips, forming a sharper point than the comparatively blunt giraffe ossicone. Whereas female giraffes have reduced ossicones, female okapi lack ossicones entirely. The morphology of ossicones in the extinct relatives of giraffes and okapi varies widely.
A rare baby giraffe has no spots, but now she has a name! Officials at the Brights Zoo, a family-owned establishment in Limestone, Tennessee, revealed the adorable, 5-week-old giraffe's name live ...