Giraffe is the tallest animal living on Earth. The male reaches a height of 4.9 to 5.5 meters. The highest representative of this family had a height of 5.85 m. The word "giraffe" comes from the Arabic term meaning "tall." And the Latin name is the result of the belief that the giraffe was born from a mixture of a camel with a leopard. Allegedly from a camel he got amazing running speed and endurance, and from a leopard - spots on the skin. In addition, it has some other specific features, among which it is necessary to note the tongue of a giraffe - its length is almost 50 cm!
In order for the blood to reach through the very long neck of the head, this animal needs a strong heart, which weighs about 12 kg. This is more than any other animal living on Earth. In the brain of giraffes there are special vessels that work to prevent fainting, if suddenly the giant lifts its head very sharply.
If these animals are kept in a zoo, they are superior in height not only to all their neighbors, but also to some buildings. In this regard, they are most often subjected to lightning strikes during a thunderstorm. In the wild, giraffes live among trees that outnumber themselves. This is the safest environment for animals, and in savannas - their habitats - lightning does not happen too often.
Giraffe Description: Neck
Despite the fact that this animal has a very long neck, it has exactly as many cervical vertebrae as a human, that is, seven. However, the connections between these vertebrae are very flexible. Giraffes sometimes stand opposite each other and try to strike with a neck. It can be either a gesture of friendship, or part of the battle.
Giraffe tongue
This tall animal is very specific. Firstly, the long one is 45-50 cm. If the long legs and neck are not enough to get tasty food or a leaf that grows high from a tree, the giant helps himself with his tongue. The tongue of the giraffe is also a good way to drive insects away from the muzzle.
The animal is not picky: it loves all kinds of plants, but some of them are full of thorns. Because of this, the tongue is strong and hard, so it is not particularly damaged after eating dangerous food.
Giant's horns
These organs are made up of cartilage, the same that gives shape to our nose, but a little harder. Horns are under the skin. In females, they are shorter than in males, and, as a rule, have several hairs at the top.
Giraffe Features: Nutrition
Giraffes live in open areas where trees (usually acacias) are located at great distances from each other. Just like cows, animals like to taste the leaves only after a while. That is, they are partially digested, getting into the stomach, and then sent back to the mouth (the giraffe, as it were, causes a gag reflex). Thus, food enters the mouth a second time, the animal chews it more thoroughly, after which it enters other parts of the stomach. Because of this, these giants, like cows, are classified as “ruminants”.
They can quite comfortably live in territories along with other herbivores, because the latter do not eat leaves growing on the tops of trees, to which the giraffe's tongue can reach. However, if farmers destroy nearby trees, these animals face death from starvation. Despite the fact that giraffes are protected, in some parts of Africa their numbers are falling indiscriminately.
Other facts
The description of the giraffe must be supplemented with the fact that these animals sleep very little - only two hours a day. As a rule, these are very quiet animals, but in fact they make a lot of different sounds: they cough, sniff, bleat, whistle ... Some sounds made by giraffes are not audible to the human ear.
These animals belong to the giraffe family. Today, only two species belonging to this family live: the giraffe and okapi are a beautiful animal with stripes on its legs, like a zebra, and at the same time the only mammal that can lick its own ears! But the length of the tongue of an adult giraffe is still far superior to okapi.
If necessary, giraffes can run very fast. Thanks to long legs they can reach speeds of even 55 km / h. The running method is also interesting; it is completely different than most four-legged animals. The latter, while running, put forward the front right leg and left hind leg, and then the front left leg and hind right. If a giraffe tried to run like that, it would immediately stumble! Therefore, he has a different technique: he pushes forward two left legs, then two right legs, and so on.