Typically, these fascinating animals roam the open grasslands in small groups of about half a dozen. Qiu, Jane (2017). "Surge in wildlife killings is wiping out giraffes". Science. doi: 10.1126/science.aan7000. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023 . Retrieved 30 June 2022. Rookmaaker, L. C. (1 June 1989). The Zoological Exploration of Southern Africa 1650–1790. CRC Press. ISBN 9789061918677. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023 . Retrieved 17 October 2020. Rudgley, Richard The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances, pub. Abacus 1998 ISBN 0 349 11127 8 pps. 20–21. Agaba, M.; Ishengoma, E.; Miller, W. C.; McGrath, B. C.; Hudson, C. N.; Bedoya, R. O. C.; Ratan, A.; Burhans, R.; Chikhi, R.; Medvedev, P.; Praul C. A.; Wu-Cavener, L.; Wood, B.; Robertson, H.; Penfold, L.; Cavener, D. R. (2016). "Giraffe genome sequence reveals clues to its unique morphology and physiology". Nature Communications. 7: 11519. Bibcode: 2016NatCo...711519A. doi: 10.1038/ncomms11519. PMC 4873664. PMID 27187213.

Walter, M.; Fournier, A.; Menevaux, D. (2001). "Integrating shape and pattern in mammalian models" (PDF). Proceedings of the 28th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques. pp. 317–26. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.10.7622. doi: 10.1145/383259.383294. ISBN 978-1-58113-374-5. S2CID 13488215. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015 . Retrieved 16 November 2011. The giraffe's stature can be a disadvantage as well—it is difficult and dangerous for a giraffe to drink at a water hole. To do so they must spread their legs and bend down in an awkward position that makes them vulnerable to predators like Africa's big cats. Giraffes only need to drink once every several days; they get most of their water from the luscious plants they eat. A 2020 study showed that depending on the method chosen, different taxonomic hypotheses recognizing from two to six species can be considered for the genus Giraffa. [23] That study also found that multi-species coalescent methods can lead to taxonomic over-splitting, as those methods delimit geographic structures rather than species. The three-species hypothesis, which recognises G. camelopardalis, G. giraffa, and G. tippelskirchi, is highly supported by phylogenetic analyses and also corroborated by most population genetic and multi-species coalescent analyses. [23] A 2021 whole genome sequencing study suggests the existence of four distinct species and seven subspecies. [24]Janis, Christine M. (1 January 1993). "Tertiary Mammal Evolution in the Context of Changing Climates, Vegetation, and Tectonic Events". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 24: 467–500. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.24.1.467. JSTOR 2097187. a b Fennessy, S.; Fennessy, J.; Muller, Z.; Brown, M.; Marais, A. (2018). " Giraffa camelopardalis ssp. rothschildi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T174469A51140829. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T174469A51140829.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021. Early biologists suggested giraffes were mute and unable to create enough air flow to vibrate their vocal folds. [101] To the contrary; they have been recorded to communicate using snorts, sneezes, coughs, snores, hisses, bursts, moans, grunts, growls and flute-like sounds. [44] [101] During courtship, males emit loud coughs. Females call their young by bellowing. Calves will emit bleats, mooing and mewing sounds. [44] Snorting and hissing is associated with vigilance. [102] During nighttime, giraffes appear to hum to each other. [103] There is some evidence that giraffes use Helmholtz resonance to create infrasound. [104] They also communicate with body language. Dominant males display to other males with an erect posture; holding the chin and head up while walking stiffly and displaying their side. The less dominant show submissiveness by dropping the head and ears, lowering the chin and fleeing. [44] Reproduction and parental care Angolan giraffes mating in Namibia Lavista Ferres, Juan M.; Lee, Derek E.; Nasir, Md; Chen, Yu-Chia; Bijral, Avleen S.; Bercovitch, Fred B.; Bond, Monica L. (1 October 2021). "Social connectedness and movements among communities of giraffes vary by sex and age class". Animal Behaviour. 180: 315–328. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.08.008. ISSN 0003-3472. S2CID 237949827.

Bond, M. L.; Lee, D. E.; Farine, D. R.; Ozgul, A.; König, B. (10 February 2021). "Sociability increases survival of adult female giraffes". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1944): 20202770. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2770. PMC 7893237. PMID 33563118. The name "giraffe" has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word zarāfah ( زرافة), [2] ultimately from Persian زُرنَاپَا‎ ( zurnāpā), a compound of زُرنَا‎ ( zurnā, “flute, zurna”) and پَا‎ ( pā, “leg”). [3] [4] In early Modern English the spellings jarraf and ziraph were used, probably directly from the Arabic, [5] and in Middle English jarraf and ziraph, gerfauntz. The Italian form giraffa arose in the 1590s. The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe. [2] Female okapis typically only give birth to one baby at a time. Birth comes after a gestation period of 14 to 16 months, and the young is born in a nest on the ground.

Why do giraffe have such a long neck?

Definition of camelopard". Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014 . Retrieved 3 September 2014. According to scientific studies, they evolved in the Miocene from ungulate animals occupying regions of Africa and Eurasia; We are talking about 25 million years ago. Eventually, they became extinct, but a new species emerged. a b c Mitchell, G.; Skinner, J.D. (2004). "Giraffe thermoregulation: a review". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 59 (2): 49–57. doi: 10.1080/00359190409519170. ISSN 0035-919X. S2CID 87321176. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018 . Retrieved 19 October 2011. a b Nowak, R.M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Volume 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.1086–1089. ISBN 978-0801857898. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023 . Retrieved 30 August 2021.

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: Through accepting Mivart’s starting conditions, Darwin had presented a defence of his conception of evolution while also outlining a plausible pathway for giraffe evolution. What Darwin did not do was present a detailed, historical explanation for the form of the giraffe. Indeed, Darwin was typically careful in handling the history of life, and even when he was privately enthusiastic about fossil forms which exhibited transitional features – such as the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx – in his public works he avoided laying out precise step-by-step scenarios which would have taken place in the distant past. Darwin knew that palaeontologists had only just begun to probe the fossil record, and so outlining phylogenies or tracing evolutionary lines of descent was a risky manoeuvre since those findings would almost certainly have to be revised. Knappert, J (1987). East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda. Vikas Publishing House. p.57. ISBN 978-0-7069-2822-8.

Müller, DW; Zerbe, P; Codron, D; Clauss, M; Hatt, JM (2011). "A long life among ruminants: giraffids and other special cases". Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde. 153 (11): 515–519. doi: 10.1024/0036-7281/a000263. PMID 22045457. S2CID 10687135. Chen, L.; Qiu, Q.; Jiang, Y.; Wang, K. (2019). "Large-scale ruminant genome sequencing provides insights into their evolution and distinct traits". Science. 364 (6446): eaav6202. Bibcode: 2019Sci...364.6202C. doi: 10.1126/science.aav6202. PMID 31221828.

Ginnett, Tim, and Montague Demment (1997). “Sex Differences in Giraffe Foraging Behavior at Two Spatial Scales,” Oecologia vol. 110, pp. 291-300. a b c d Badlangana, L. N.; Adams, J. W.; Manger, P. R. (2009). "The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) cervical vertebral column: A heuristic example in understanding evolutionary processes?". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 155 (3): 736–57. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00458.x. Lee, Derek Edward; Bond, Monica Louise; Bolger, Douglas Thomas (1 January 2017). "Season of birth affects juvenile survival of giraffe". Population Ecology. 59 (1): 45–54. doi: 10.1007/s10144-017-0571-8. ISSN 1438-3896. S2CID 7611046. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023 . Retrieved 22 August 2023. Muneza, A.; Doherty, J. B.; Hussein Ali, A.; Fennessy, J.; Marais, A.; O'Connor, D.; Wube, T. (2018). "Reticulated Giraffe". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T88420717A88420720.en. a b Young, T. P.; Isbell, L. A. (1991). "Sex differences in giraffe feeding ecology: energetic and social constraints" (PDF). Ethology. 87 (1–2): 79–89. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1991.tb01190.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2013 . Retrieved 2 February 2012.

HABITAT AND DIET

Mitchell, G.; van Sittert, S.; Skinner, J. D. (2010). "The demography of giraffe deaths in a drought". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 65 (3): 165–68. doi: 10.1080/0035919X.2010.509153. hdl: 2263/18957. S2CID 83652889. The population is continuing to decrease. According to the San Diego Zoo, only 25,000 are believed to be alive in the wild. IUCN lists human habitation of the okapi’s home area and hunting as causes for the population decline. Ancestry a b c d e f g h Swaby, S. (2010). "Giraffe". In Harris, T. (ed.). Mammal Anatomy: An Illustrated Guide. Marshall Cavendish. pp.64–84. ISBN 978-0-7614-7882-9. Individual captive giraffes were given celebrity status throughout history. In 1414, a giraffe from Malindi was taken to China by explorer Zheng He and placed in a Ming dynasty zoo. The animal was a source of fascination for the Chinese people, who associated it with the mythical Qilin. [124] :56 The Medici giraffe was a giraffe presented to Lorenzo de' Medici in 1486. It caused a great stir on its arrival in Florence. [129] Zarafa, another famous giraffe, was brought from Egypt to Paris in the early 19th century as a gift for CharlesX of France. A sensation, the giraffe was the subject of numerous memorabilia or "giraffanalia". [124] :81 Knüsel, Mara; Lee, Derek; König, Barbara; Bond, Monica (March 2019). "Correlates of home range sizes of giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis" (PDF). Animal Behaviour. 149: 143–151. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.017. S2CID 72332291. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 February 2020.