Giraffe is a ruminant cloven hoofed animal growing in Africa. It is the highest existing terrestrial animal in the world. The protection level is vulnerable. The following is why the giraffe's neck is so long. Let's have a look. It must be helpful to you.
Why is the giraffe's neck so long
Giraffes are differentiated from deer in the early Miocene, and their ancestral appearance is consistent with that of ordinary deer. As the giraffe subfamily lives in the savanna, the trees are mostly umbrella shaped, and the leaves are concentrated in the upper layer. The longer the neck, the more food the deer can get, while those with short necks are gradually eliminated by nature because they can't get food. Under the influence of the law of natural selection, the long neck group we see today has gradually formed.
What is the correct sleeping position of giraffe
Giraffes sleep most of the time standing, usually standing and pretending to sleep. Because the neck is too long, giraffes often lean their heads against the branches when they sleep, so as not to make their neck too tired. When giraffes enter the sleep stage, they and elephants
Morphological characteristics of giraffe
Male giraffes are 1.4-5.5 meters tall; The male weighs 900 ~ 2000 kg and the female weighs 700 ~ 1300 kg; The average neck length was 2.4 meters; Height at birth: 1.8m; The weight at birth is 44 ~ 70kg. Both male and female heads have a pair of small short horns wrapped with skin and fur. The background color is light brown and will not be taken off for life. In addition, it has two diagonals behind its ears and eyes, but it is not very obvious. Some male Cervus also have a horn in the center of their head. Therefore, they have 6 to 7 horns. The eyes are large and prominent, located on the top of the head, suitable for distant viewing. In addition to a pair of big eyes, which are natural "lookouts" to monitor the enemy, they will keep turning their ears to find the sound source until they are safe. The head of a giraffe has a hard horned skull. The giraffe is covered with light yellow background and is inlaid with black brown mottled reticulation of different shapes and sizes. The mottled reticulation on the skin is a natural protective color
Giraffe's long neck, like other mammals, has only seven vertebrae, but their vertebrae are long and closely connected with strong muscles. The torso is short and tilts downward from shoulder to hip. There is a mane on the back of the neck. The tail is long with a bunch of long hair at the end. The front legs are longer than the back legs. The diameter of the hoof is the same as that of the dinner plate. The heart is 65 cm wide and the capacity of the lung is 50 liters. [2] Giraffes' height requires them to have higher blood pressure than ordinary animals, because only in this way can the heart deliver blood to the "far away" brain. Giraffes' blood pressure is about three times that of adults. Because giraffes have high necks, when they lower their heads, the membranes behind their ears regulate blood pressure and prevent high blood pressure. The giraffe's tongue is 40 cm long and is cyan black. Its lips are thin and flexible. It can easily avoid the dense long thorns on the periphery of the plant and roll the leaves hidden in the inner layer. The sticky saliva on the tongue and a tough horny bulge on the tongue and lips can prevent being hurt by Robinia pseudoacacia.
Giraffe's long neck and long legs are also good cooling "cooling towers". They live in the hot tropical grassland. Because of its large surface area, it is conducive to heat emission and can well adapt to the surrounding environment. The lung capacity is also large, which is conducive to breathing fresh air and discharging waste gas. Because the legs are too long, it is very inconvenient for giraffes to drink water. They have to fork their front legs or kneel on the ground to drink water, and they are very vulnerable to other animals when drinking water, so social giraffes often don't drink water together.