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Although the okapi has striped markings reminiscent of zebras, it is most closely related to the giraffe. The okapi and the giraffe are the only living members of the family Giraffidae. The okapi stands about 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) tall at the shoulder and has a typical body length around 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in).
The okapi's neck is long compared to most ruminants, but not nearly so long as the giraffe's. Male giraffes are the tallest of all mammals: their horns reach 5.5 m (18 ft) above the ground and their shoulder 3.3 m (11 ft), whereas the okapi has a shoulder height of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in).
The giraffe genome is around 2.9 billion base pairs in length, compared to the 3.3 billion base pairs of the okapi. Of the proteins in giraffe and okapi genes, 19.4% are identical. The divergence of giraffe and okapi lineages dates to around 11.5 mya. A small group of regulatory genes in the giraffe appears responsible for the animal's height ...
Like the giraffe, the okapi uses its long, prehensile tongue to pluck leaves and buds from trees," the Cincinnati Zoo's website states. Okapis walk like giraffes, swinging forward both legs on the ...
The young okapi marks the 18th born at the Cincinnati Zoo since 1989. There are approximately 15,000 okapis globally, the zoo estimates. Habitat destruction and poaching have harmed the species ...
The calf is from a species called okapi, the only living relative of the giraffe, the zoo said in a news release. Okapis are from the rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Like giraffes ...
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.
As a clip from one zoo visitor (@usernamelotus2) shows, it started off as your typical day at the giraffe enclosure. The baby giraffe was hanging around with some of the older animals when ...