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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 distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, horn-like ossicones, and spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi.
Often mistaken with the southern giraffe, the northern giraffe differs by the shape and size of the two distinctive horn-like protuberances known as ossicones on its forehead; they are longer and larger than those of southern giraffe. Male northern giraffes have a third cylindrical ossicone in the center of the head just above the eyes, ranging ...
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 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 Masai giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi [2]), also spelled Maasai giraffe, and sometimes called the Kilimanjaro giraffe, is a species or subspecies of giraffe. It is native to East Africa. The Masai giraffe can be found in central and southern Kenya and in Tanzania. It has distinctive jagged, irregular leaf-like blotches that extend from the ...
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.