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Ossicones of a giraffe Ossicones of a male okapi. Ossicones are columnar or conical skin-covered bone structures on the heads of giraffes, male okapi, and some of their extinct relatives. Ossicones are distinguished from the superficially similar structures of horns and antlers by their unique development and a permanent covering of skin and fur.
The giraffe's head and neck are held up by large muscles and a nuchal ligament, which are anchored by long thoracic vertebrae spines, giving them a hump. [17] [62] [35] Adult male reticulated giraffe feeding high on an acacia, in Kenya. The giraffe's neck vertebrae have ball and socket joints.
Male okapis have short, hair-covered horn-like structures called ossicones, less than 15 cm (5.9 in) in length, which are similar in form and function to the ossicones of a giraffe. [26] The okapi exhibits sexual dimorphism , with females 4.2 cm (1.7 in) taller on average, slightly redder, and lacking prominent ossicones, instead possessing ...
The northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), also known as three-horned giraffe, [2] is the type species of giraffe, G. camelopardalis, and is native to North Africa, although alternative taxonomic hypotheses have proposed the northern giraffe as a separate species. [3] [1]
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).
Giraffe populations are in trouble — and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday proposed listing three subspecies of the tall animals as endangered and two species as threatened under ...
A giraffe feeding experience at a Texas wildlife center turned frightening last week when one of the animals hoisted a toddler from the bed of the pickup truck she was riding in.
Articles relating to the giraffe, a tall African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa.It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. . The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patter