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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).
Skeletons of a human and an elephant. Comparative foot morphology involves comparing the form of distal limb structures of a variety of terrestrial vertebrates.Understanding the role that the foot plays for each type of organism must take account of the differences in body type, foot shape, arrangement of structures, loading conditions and other variables.
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 ...
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).
1.5 m – height of an okapi; 1.63 m – (5 feet 4 inches) (or 64 inches) – height of average U.S. female human as of 2002 (source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) 1.75 m – (5 feet 8 inches) – height of average U.S. male human as of 2002 (source: U.S. CDC as per female above) 2.4 m – wingspan of a mute swan
The most likely ancestors were long thought to be mesonychians—large, carnivorous animals from the early Cenozoic (Paleocene and Eocene), which had hooves instead of claws on their feet. Their molars were adapted to a carnivorous diet, resembling the teeth in modern toothed whales , and, unlike other mammals, had a uniform construction.
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 ...
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.