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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 is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa.It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth.Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies.
The reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata [3] or Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata [4]) is a species/subspecies of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa.It is differentiated from other types of giraffe by its coat, which consists of large, polygonal (or squared), block-like spots, which extend onto the lower legs, tail and face.
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).
The spotting pattern extends throughout the legs but not the upper part of the face. The neck and rump patches tend to be fairly small. The subspecies also has a white ear patch. [9]: 51 Around 13,000 animals are estimated to remain in the wild; and about 20 are kept in zoos. [5] South African giraffe (G. g. giraffa), also known as Cape giraffe
The South African giraffe or Cape giraffe (Giraffa giraffa [2] or Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) is a species or subspecies of giraffe found in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Mozambique. It has rounded or blotched spots, some with star-like extensions on a light tan background, running down to the hooves.
The pattern consists of large, irregular shaped brown to black patches separated by white to yellow bands. [9] Male giraffes' coats darken with age, particularly the patches. The darkening of the coat has not been studied extensively enough to indicate absolute age; however, it can estimate relative age of male Thornicroft's giraffes.
The Rothschild's giraffe is easily distinguishable from other subspecies. The most obvious sign is in the coloring of the coat or pelt.Whereas the reticulated giraffe has very clearly defined dark patches with bright-whitish channels between them, Rothschild's giraffe more closely resembles the Masai giraffe.