Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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).
Elephants, sea cows, and hyraxes were grouped together in the clade Paenungulata, while the aardvark has been considered as either a close relative to them or a close relative to sengis in the clade Afroinsectiphilia. [13] This is a striking example of convergent evolution. [14]
Afrotheria (/ æ f r oʊ ˈ θ ɪər i ə / from Latin Afro-"of Africa" + theria "wild beast") is a superorder of placental mammals, the living members of which belong to groups that are either currently living in Africa or of African origin: golden moles, elephant shrews (also known as sengis), otter shrews, tenrecs, aardvarks, hyraxes, elephants, sea cows, and several extinct clades.
Morphological features shared between the giraffe and the okapi include a similar gait – both use a pacing gait, stepping simultaneously with the front and the hind leg on the same side of the body, unlike other ungulates that walk by moving alternate legs on either side of the body [30] – and a long, black tongue (longer in the okapi ...
A rare baby giraffe has no spots, but now she has a name.
Spring-like kinetics could explain the difference between the motion of elephants and other animals. [76] [77] The cushion pads expand and contract, and reduce both the pain and noise that would come from a very heavy animal moving. [73]
White Elephant, Dirty Santa, Yankee Swap. It's the Christmas gift exchange that goes by a hundred names, with thousands of different rules that vary family to family. But whatever you call this ...