Giraffe
Hello up there! Why do so many people look up to giraffes—besides the obvious reason? The long and short of it is that they are a wonderful example of nature’s creativity.
Giraffes are the tallest land animals. A giraffe could look into a second-story window without even having to stand on its tiptoes! A giraffe’s 6-foot (1.8-meter) neck weighs about 600 pounds (272 kilograms). The legs of a giraffe are also 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. The back legs look shorter than the front legs, but they are about the same length. A giraffe’s heart is 2 feet (0.6 meters) long and weighs about 25 pounds (11 kilograms), and its lungs can hold 12 gallons (55 liters) of air! Its closest relative is the okapi.
Giraffes have a small hump on their back and have a spotted pattern similar to that of a leopard. For a long time people called the giraffe a “camel-leopard,” because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard. That’s where the giraffe’s name camelopardalis comes from!
Although a study of giraffe genetics published in the scientific journal Current Biology concluded that there are actually four distinct species of giraffes—said to be as different from each other as polar bears are from brown bears—one is currently recognized, with nine subspecies. The subspecies have different coat patterns and live in different parts of Africa. Giraffe coat colors vary from light tan to practically black. The differences occur due to what the giraffes eat and where they live. Each individual giraffe’s markings are as individual as our fingerprints.
Masai giraffes, from Kenya, have patterns that look like oak leaves. Uganda or Rothschild’s giraffes sport large, brown splotches separated by thick, beige lines. The reticulated giraffe, found only in northern Kenya, has a dark coat with a seeming web of narrow white lines.
How many bones are there in a giraffe’s neck? Just like humans, giraffes have seven neck vertebrae. For giraffes, however, each one can be over 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) long!
Both male and female giraffes have two distinct, hair-covered horns called ossicones. Male giraffes use their horns to spar, throwing their neck against each other. As a male matures, calcium deposits begin to form on his skull to protect it when he head-butts with other males. These calcifications can be quite pronounced, giving the strange appearance of a three- to five-horned giraffe.
Giraffes are so big that they really don’t need to hide from predators. There is safety in numbers! It’s hard to pick out one giraffe from another when they form a tight group.
Besides humans, only lions and crocodiles hunt them. If they have to, giraffes defend themselves with a deadly kick, karate-style. Their speed, the way they move, and their body designs also help them to escape predators if they need to. Giraffes have a way of moving, or gait, in which both the front and back legs on one side move forward together, then the other two legs on the other side move forward. It’s called “pacing.” Giraffes can run very fast—around 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour for short distances.
You might think watching out for lions and spending 16 to 20 hours a day eating would all weigh heavily on a giraffe. Surprisingly enough, giraffes only need 5 to 30 minutes of sleep in a 24-hour period! They often achieve that in quick naps that may last only a minute or two at a time. Giraffes can rest while standing, but they sometimes also lie down with their head resting on their rump. That’s a vulnerable position for a giraffe, though, so usually one herd member stays on guard.
Many people think that giraffes have no voice, but they do make a variety of sounds, including moos, roars, snorts, hisses, and grunts. They just very rarely do so. One sound giraffes make when they’re alarmed is a snort. Threats—such as lions nearby—may warrant a snort. Giraffes are often the early warning signal for other savanna wildlife: if a giraffe herd starts to run, everyone else does, too! Studies suggest giraffes vocalize below the level of human hearing and perhaps use this sound for long-distance communication.
It’s easy to understand why giraffes top the list of so many people’s favorite wildlife. Their elegant stride, outrageous eyelashes, and calm expression give them an air of refinement.
What color is a giraffe?
Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world, and they evolved to eat from the tallest trees. They stand an average of about 18 feet high, with legs that are taller than most humans.
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Giraffe skin has patterns of dark brown, orange, or chestnut spots broken up by white or cream-colored stripes. The colors camouflage it from.
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Savanna Grasslands Biome: Definition & Examples
from Chapter 27 / Lesson 3
Where is the savanna located and what is a savanna biome? Learn about savanna grasslands plants and animals, savanna locations, and properties of a savanna.
Color of Giraffes’ Spots Reflects Social Status, Not Age
The color of a male giraffe’s spots may reveal insights on its behavior, new research suggests. As scientists led by Madelaine Castles of Australia’s University of Queensland report in the journal Animal Behaviour, dark-furred giraffes tend to be both more dominant and solitary than their lighter-hued counterparts.
These findings, based on a survey of 66 males living in Namibia’s Etosha National Park over a 12-year period, contradict previous research associating darker coloring with advanced age rather than social status.
Per Cosmos’ Tanya Loos, the latest study—drawing on 1,793 photographs and calculations of gregariousness versus sociability, as represented by time spent alone or within a group—supports the idea that most giraffes’ spots darken over time but identifies significant exceptions to this trend.
In a press release, Castles notes, “We now know that—rather than simply indicating age—colour may display males’ physical condition and be used as a way to signal competitive ability to others.”
Of the 66 subjects surveyed, nine actually grew paler as they aged. Others retained the light coloring seen in their youth, never making the switch from sienna brown to darker black. As the study’s authors explain, “This suggests that color is not solely an age-based trait but could be a secondary sexual trait.”
According to the statement, dark-hued males assert their dominance through what Castles calls an “often-successful but risky” mating strategy. Whereas paler male giraffes travel in packs with females, darker ones roam alone, moving between groups in search of potential mates.
“In contrast,” Castles says, “the lighter, less dominant males may be making the best of a bad situation so to speak, by remaining with females in the hope of getting lucky when a dominant male is not around.”
Staying in close proximity to females offers several benefits for younger subordinate males. Per the study, delaying breeding gives these giraffes time to grow and increase their physical fitness—a decision likely to “prove more beneficial over a lifetime.” At the same time, the researchers write, females in heat may be more willing to mate with familiar males than unknown ones.
According to Cosmos’ Loos, the researchers’ findings suggest giraffes’ coloring acts similarly to African lions’ manes, which signal bearers’ fitness to potential female mates. The study further notes that lions’ mane growth and coloring tend to change with age but are also influenced by a wide array of factors, including injuries, testosterone, nutrition and ambient temperature.
In the press release, study co-author Anne Goldizen, also of the University of Queensland, notes that scientists’ next step will be determining how color can signal a male giraffe’s physical condition.
Much like lions, she adds, giraffes’ “color could be linked to testosterone, to heat stress, diet, genetics or a combination of multiple factors.”
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