Giraffe pictures and facts

Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) certainly are among the most conspiciuous animals of the African savannas. Their size and their long necks are extraordinary. The head of an adult Giraffe is about six metres above the ground; Giraffes are the highest animals living nowadays. But like all other mammals Giraffes have got only seven cervical vertebras. The long neck is a result of the fact that each cervical vertebra is extremely lengthened. Giraffes wear two to six short and blunt horns on their heads. These horns consist of bone tissue and are almost completely covered with skin and fur. The Giraffes's fore legs are longer than the hind legs. So the relatively short body slopes away. Like bovines and antilopes Giraffes are even-toed ungulates (artiodactyla). The common Giraffe, as we know it, is also called "Steppe-Giraffe" to seperate it from the closely related, short-necked Okapi (Okapia johnstoni), which is also known as "Forest-Giraffe". Although all (Steppe-) Giraffes are regarded as members of one single species nowadays, there are a lot of differences, especially concerning the markings of the fur. The species is divided into eight subspecies, but also the members of a certain subspecies differ individually in their fur markings; no Giraffe is alike another one. The markings of the fur are like fingerprints among Giraffes.