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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] [63] [36] Adult male reticulated giraffe feeding high on an acacia, in Kenya. The giraffe's neck vertebrae have ball and socket joints.
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). [9]
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). Its weight ranges from 200 to 350 kg (440 to 770 lb). It has a long neck, and large, flexible ears.
A Penn State researcher has been trying to get to the bottom of the age-old question of why giraffes have long necks. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please ...
The giraffe's neck is elongated by heterochrony, extension of the time for the embryonic development of these bones. [ 4 ] By convention, the cervical vertebrae are numbered, with the first one (C1) closest to the skull and higher numbered vertebrae (C2–C7) proceeding away from the skull and down the spine.
Rather than taking advantage of this, the opposing giraffe lines up head-to-toe, or head-to-head with the other giraffe. Each giraffe gets to fight from their preferred side.
The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a species of small weevil endemic to Madagascar. [2] They are black-bodied and have bright red elytra covering their wings. . Giraffe weevils are known for their elongated necks, with the males having necks 2 to 3 times the size of their female counte
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.