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Giraffe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

 

 

Giraffe

Scientific classification

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Mammalia

Order:

Artiodactyla

Family:

Giraffidae

Genus:

Giraffa

Species:

G. camelopardalis

Binomial name

Giraffa camelopardalis
Linnaeus, 1758

 

The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species. Males can be 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to 18 feet) tall and weigh up to 1,360 kilograms (3,000 pounds). The record-sized bull was 5.87 m (19.2 feet) tall and weighed approximately 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs.). [2] Females are generally slightly shorter and weigh less than the males do.

The giraffe is related to deer and cattle, but is placed in a separate family, the Giraffidae, consisting only of the giraffe and its closest relative, the okapi. Its range extends from Chad to South Africa.

Etymology and history

The species name camelopardalis (camelopard) is derived from its early Roman name, where it was described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard .[3] The English word camelopard first appeared in the 14th century, and survived in common usage well into the 19th century. A number of European languages retain it. The Arabic word الزرافة ziraafa or zurapha, meaning "assemblage" (of animals), or just "tall", was used in English from the sixteenth century on, often in the Italianate form giraffa.

Physical characteristics

 

Giraffes use their long, prehensile tongues to extend their reach. Specimen at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.

Giraffes use their long, prehensile tongues to extend their reach. Specimen at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.

Male giraffes are around 16–18 feet tall at the horn tips, and weigh 1700–4200 lb. Females are one to two feet shorter and weigh several hundred pounds less than males. Both sexes have horns, although the horns of a female are smaller. The prominent horns are formed from ossified cartilage and are called ossicones. Males sometimes develop calcium deposits which form bumps on their skull as they age, which can give the appearance of up to three further horns.[4]

Giraffes have spots covering their entire bodies, except their underbellies, with each giraffe having a unique pattern of spots. They have long, prehensile tongues that are distinctly blue-black to protect from sunburn. Giraffes have long necks, which they use to browse the leaves of trees. They possess seven vertebrae in the neck (the usual number for a mammal). They also have slightly elongated forelegs, about 10% longer than their hind legs.

Modifications to the giraffe's structure have evolved, particularly to the circulatory system. A giraffe's heart, which can weigh up to 10 kg (24 lb) and about 2 feet long, has to generate around double the normal blood pressure for an average large mammal in order to maintain blood flow to the brain against gravity. In the upper neck, a complex pressure-regulation system called the rete mirabile prevents excess blood flow to the brain when the giraffe lowers its head to drink. Conversely, the blood vessels in the lower legs are under great pressure (because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them). In other animals such pressure would force the blood out through the capillary walls; giraffes, however, have a very tight sheath of thick skin over their lower limbs which maintains high extravascular pressure in exactly the same way as a pilot's g-suit.

Some giraffes can lose the bottom part of their tail to cysts resulting from tick bites.

 

 

 

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Giraffe&action=history

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