From Lamarck to the present day, including Darwin’s theories, the evolution of giraffe necks has always been at the center of all research.Why is the giraffe’s neck fat?
This is not the only defining feature of giraffes, they are one of the largest animals currently living on Earth and one of the heaviest.In this article by Animal Expert, we will talk about the reasons why the giraffe’s neck is great and other curiosities about this beautiful and intriguing animal.
- The spine is the characteristic that defines a large group of animals.
- Vertebrates.
- Each species has a unique column.
- Developed for the specific needs of these groups of animals.
The spine usually extends from the base of the skull to the pelvic waist and, in some cases, continues to form the tail; it is made up of fibrocartilaginous bones and tissues, structured in overlapping discs or vertebrae.The number of vertebrae and their shape vary.depending on the corresponding species.
Usually, in one column, there are five groups of vertebrae
The giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, is an ungulíte belonging to the order of artiodactyls, because it has two fingers on each helmet, shares certain characteristics with the deer and cattle, for example, because its stomach has four chambers, is a ruminant animal and has no incisors or canines in the upper jaw.It also has characteristics that distinguish it from these animals: its horns are covered with skin and its lower canines have two lobes.
It is one of the largest and heaviest animals in the world, can reach almost 6 meters in height, an adult giraffe can reach a ton and a half in weight.
Although many people wonder how many meters the giraffe’s neck has, the truth is that it is also the animal that has the longest legs, the bones of the fingers and legs are very long, the ulna and radius of the anterior limbs and the tibia and the fibula of the hind fly are usually fused and are also long , but the really elongated bones in this species are the bones that correspond to the feet and hands, that is, tarsus, metatarsals, carp and metacarpals., of dots.
The giraffe’s neck is tense, like the legs, they do not have an exorbitant number of vertebrae, the truth is that these vertebrae are too elongated.
Like all mammals, with the exception of sloths and manatees, giraffes have seven cervical vertebrae, or cervical vertebrae.The vertebrae of an adult giraffe can measure up to 30 centimeters in length, so its neck can, in total, measure up to 2 meters.
The sixth vertebra of the neck of the ligligres has a different shape to the rest, but in giraffes it is very similar to the third, fourth and fifth; the last cervical vertebra, the seventh, is also similar to the others, while in other ongulides, the latter vertebra has become the first thoracic vertebra, that is, it has a pair of ribs.
Since Lamarck and his theory of species evolution, before Darwin’s theory, the usefulness of the giraffe neck has been widely discussed.
Early studies suggest that the length of the giraffe’s neck was used to reach the higher branches of the acacias, the trees from which giraffes feed, so that individuals with the longer neck have more food at their disposal, a theory that was later discredited.
What the observation of these animals has taught is that giraffes use their necks to defend themselves from other animals, they also wear it during the procession, when giraffe males fight, hitting their necks and horns.
In addition to the questions we mentioned earlier about the amount of vertebrae that the giraffe neck has, how many meters has the giraffe’s neck, because the giraffe’s neck is large, these are some of the curiosities about the most interesting giraffes.and you certainly had no idea:
Discover more curiosities about giraffes in this article by Animal Expert.
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