Ask anyone which animal is the tallest animal on the planet. The answer will be unequivocal: a giraffe! And what do we know about him, except that he has a beautiful color, wet eyes, and a long neck? In this article we will tell you a few facts about this animal - you will find out how much the giraffe has cervical vertebrae, how tall he is, how much he weighs and much more.
Spotted rarity
To begin with, at the moment, giraffes are listed in the Red Book - in the nature of these animals there are extremely few. The thing is that giraffes are very peaceful, absolutely non-aggressive animals. 200 years ago they were actively hunted, not only for the extraction of hides and meat, but also for fun. Now giraffes are not killed, but this species is gradually disappearing as a result of landscape changes.
Uniqueness is in the neck!
Despite the long neck and how many giraffes have cervical vertebrae (thanks to which this animal is actually not so different from all other representatives of the fauna), they are not always able to recognize the danger in time, and even more so - to escape from it. In addition, a running giraffe is a rare and very comical sight reminiscent of a slow gallop.
Just imagine: the growth of this animal sometimes reaches 6 meters, while almost half is its neck. How many giraffes have cervical vertebrae? Ten, twenty? The reader will be surprised, but there are seven of them! That is exactly the same as all other animals. What makes this savannah’s neck so long if it’s not at all how many giraffes have cervical vertebrae? The thing is that his cervical vertebrae are unusually elongated. It is because of this that the neck of the giraffe bends badly. Also, because of the long neck, giraffes are forced to breathe very often - about 20 breaths per minute. For example, we humans take only 15 breaths over the same period of time.
The weight of an adult male giraffe can reach 800 kilograms. His heart is very powerful. Well - he has to pump the blood of such a tall creature up his long neck. No wonder it weighs about 11 kilograms!
And the thorns - nothing!
Giraffes are big gluttons! Chewing greens, especially acacia, is their favorite pastime. Most likely, this is due to the long neck of the giraffe, along which the food goes into the esophagus for a long time. At the same time, the giraffe's mouth is unique - it is surrounded by a dense horny layer, and its saliva is very viscous. Thus, giraffes painlessly eat thorns without risking injury.
And if the answer is "Seven!" to the question: "How many cervical vertebrae in the spine of a giraffe?" - in principle, we expect that the length of the tongue of this long-necked animal is a real shock! He has it - as many as 46 centimeters!
Giraffes sleep standing and very little - only about 10 minutes a day. Apparently, they manage to doze off while slowly chewing food.
These savannah inhabitants live in small groups of 10-15 individuals. Moreover, they are incredibly “talkative”, however, the human ear is not able to recognize these sounds, since giraffes communicate in the infrasonic range.