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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 is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa.It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth.Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies.
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 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).
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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed new protections for giraffes, saying their populations are threatened by poaching, habitat loss and climate change.
The current IUCN taxonomic scheme lists one species of giraffe with the name G. camelopardalis and nine subspecies. [1] [7] A 2021 whole genome sequencing study suggests the northern giraffe as a separate species, and postulates the existence of three distinct subspecies, [8] and more recently, one extinct subspecies.
Male okapis have short, hair-covered horn-like structures called ossicones, less than 15 cm (5.9 in) in length, which are similar in form and function to the ossicones of a giraffe. [26] The okapi exhibits sexual dimorphism , with females 4.2 cm (1.7 in) taller on average, slightly redder, and lacking prominent ossicones, instead possessing ...