The Giraffe With No Neck

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Langley, Liz (4 March 2017). "Do Zebras Have Stripes On Their Skin?". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019 . Retrieved 2 June 2020. Skinner, J. D.; Mitchell, G. (2011). "Lung volumes in giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis" (PDF). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A. 158 (1): 72–78. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.09.003. hdl: 2263/16472. PMID 20837156. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2018 . Retrieved 27 November 2011. A less well-known fact about this fascinating animal is that there are nine subspecies of giraffe currently recognised in Africa. These subspecies inhabit different countries across Africa, but increasing genetic evidence suggests that some may not be that different from others, while others may be distinct species in their own right. Research efforts are currently underway to unravel the mystery of giraffe genetics. Each of these subspecies differs in their coat pattern, but also in size. a b "Giraffe – The Facts: Current giraffe status?". Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016 . Retrieved 21 December 2010.

Leuthold, Barbara, and Walter Leuthold (1972). “Food Habits of Giraffe in Tsavo National Park, Kenya,” E. Afr. Wildl. J.vol. 10, pp. 129-141. Brownlee, A. (1963). "Evolution of the Giraffe". Nature. 200 (4910): 1022. Bibcode: 1963Natur.200.1022B. doi: 10.1038/2001022a0. S2CID 4145785. The zoo said she might be the “only solid-colored reticulated giraffe living anywhere on the planet.” (The last spotless giraffe in captivity was likely a calf born at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in 1972, CBS News reported.) Giraffe gestation lasts 400–460 days, after which a single calf is normally born, although twins occur on rare occasions. [105] The mother gives birth standing up. The calf emerges head and front legs first, having broken through the fetal membranes, and falls to the ground, severing the umbilical cord. [19] A newborn giraffe is 1.7–2m (5.6–6.6ft) tall. [47] Within a few hours of birth, the calf can run around and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old. However, for the first one to three weeks, it spends most of its time hiding, [108] its coat pattern providing camouflage. The ossicones, which have lain flat in the womb, raise up in a few days. [44] Female Angolan giraffe with calf The population of reticulated giraffes G.c. reticulata has dropped by an alarming 80 percent in just 10 years, most likely due to poaching. They are no match for humans with guns; giraffes are shot or snared for their meat, hide, bone marrow, and tail hair. Kenya is starting a giraffe conservation program for the three subspecies found there: reticulated, Uganda, and Masai giraffes G.c. tippelskirchi.Mitchell, G.; Skinner, J. D. (1993). "How giraffe adapt to their extraordinary shape". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 48 (2): 207–18. doi: 10.1080/00359199309520271. a b "Giraffe". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015 . Retrieved 1 November 2011. Naturally, any social structure requires communication and giraffe are not the mute creatures they were once believed to be. They have been recorded humming, snorting, grunting, moaning and even growling. Fascinatingly, they can also use infrasonic sounds to communicate below the level of human perception, like elephants. A newborn giraffe, only just having managed the act of standing, nurses from its mother. Note the umbilical cord still present Boys are smelly

Dehkhoda, Ali-akbar. "زراف". Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute and International Center for Persian Studies. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022 . Retrieved 28 December 2022.But just because this explanation is widespread does not mean it is true. In fact, this “self-evident” explanation retains its ability to convince only as long as we do not get too involved in the actual biological and ecological details. Various scientists have noticed that this elegant picture of giraffe evolution dissolves under closer scrutiny. Here are a few examples of my and their objections: To the best of our knowledge, D. xiezhi exhibits the most optimized head-butting adaptation in vertebrate evolution,” the researchers write in the paper.

Ginnett, Tim, and Montague Demment (1997). “Sex Differences in Giraffe Foraging Behavior at Two Spatial Scales,” Oecologia vol. 110, pp. 291-300. A giraffe eats around 34 kg (75 lb) of foliage daily. They mostly eat during the first and last hours of daytime. They get 70% of their moisture from their food so need to drink very little. In fact, they can survive for up to three weeks without drinking water. Along with their height, giraffes have an incredible array of adaptations. For example, their skin coloring provides excellent camouflage, as it has many different patches of variable size and color. a b Bond, Monica L.; König, Barbara; Lee, Derek E.; Ozgul, Arpat; Farine, Damien R. (2020). "Proximity to humans affects local social structure in a giraffe metapopulation". Journal of Animal Ecology. 90 (1): 212–221. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13247. ISSN 1365-2656. PMID 32515083.

Adult giraffes generally have no predators other than lions and humans, as their huge hooves are very effective in defending against predators. Giraffes are more vulnerable when they are lying down or drinking, because this gives lions the opportunity to leap up and seize them by the nose or throat. Bercovitch, Fred B.; Bashaw, Meredith J.; del Castillo, Susan M. (1 August 2006). "Sociosexual behavior, male mating tactics, and the reproductive cycle of giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis". Hormones and Behavior. 50 (2): 314–321. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.04.004. ISSN 0018-506X. PMID 16765955. S2CID 45843281. Carl Linnaeus originally classified living giraffes as one species in 1758. He gave it the binomial name Cervus camelopardalis. Mathurin Jacques Brisson coined the generic name Giraffa in 1762. [19] During the 1900s, various taxonomies with two or three species were proposed. [20] A 2007 study on the genetics of giraffes using mitochondrial DNA suggested at least six lineages could be recognised as species. [18] A 2011 study using detailed analyses of the morphology of giraffes, and application of the phylogenetic species concept, described eight species of living giraffes. [21] A 2016 study also concluded that living giraffes consist of multiple species. The researchers suggested the existence of four species, which have not exchanged genetic information between each other for 1 to 2 million years. [22]

van Sittert, Sybrand J.; Mitchell, Graham (4 August 2015). "On reconstructing Giraffa sivalensis, an extinct giraffid from the Siwalik Hills, India". PeerJ. 3: e1135. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1135. PMC 4540016. PMID 26290791. Young giraffes are never left alone, however, they are looked after in a kind of nursery group where the females help look after each others calves (baby giraffes). Gestation period is usually 13 – 15 months and when a pregnant female giraffe is ready to give birth, she makes her way to a calving area that she will use throughout her life. The moment of birth is dramatic, with the mother giraffe standing on all fours and the calf tumbling onto the ground. Remarkably, the calf is rarely injured by its fall.Giraffes usually sleep lying down, although standing sleeps have been recorded, particularly in older individuals. In captivity, a giraffe sleeps intermittently around 4.6 hours per day, mostly at night, but in the wild they can sleep as little as 5 to 30 minutes in a 24 hour period. The most common amount of sleep for giraffes is between one and two hours. Knappert, J (1987). East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda. Vikas Publishing House. p.57. ISBN 978-0-7069-2822-8.