Average Height Of A Giraffe

How Tall Is a Giraffe?

Giraffes in Kenya's Nairobi National Park.

The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the largest rudimentary animal and the tallest of all country mammals. Giraffes occupy the open grasslands and savannah woodlands of Fundamental, East, and South Africa. They are social animals and tend to live in herds of as many as 44 individuals. The distinctive characteristics of giraffes include its long neck and legs, horn-like ossicones that differ betwixt sexes, and unique color and coat patterns.

How Alpine Are Giraffes?

An developed giraffe ranges betwixt 16 and 20 feet in height, and male giraffes are taller than their female counterparts. The tallest male giraffe measures 20 feet, while their female counterparts measure 16 feet. Co-ordinate to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, newborn giraffes mensurate 6 feet in peak, and male person newborns are taller than their female equivalents. Within the first twelvemonth subsequently nascence, calves abound up to 12 anxiety.

Part of the giraffe'due south bully weight comes from its long slender legs, which measure an boilerplate of 6 feet and are adapted to long-distance high speeds of up to 29mph, especially when defending their newborn calves. A giraffe'southward legs are usually used for gait and defense against enemy attacks. When walking, the giraffe moves its legs on 1 side of the body, at the aforementioned time relying on the forward and astern motion of its neck and head for balance. Giraffes use their feet as a defence force machinery against predators by throwing enormous kicks with their front or hind anxiety. One kick from a giraffe's enormous hooves is plenty to break a lion's back. Giraffes have a long sticky tongue that stretches up to 21 inches. The tongue is adapted to grasping twigs and branches of thorny acacia copse and shrubs, which are a great source of poly peptide and calcium required to sustain the giraffe's growth rate.

The giraffe'south elongated neck accounts for much of the vertical meridian. A male giraffe's neck can measure vii feet, while a female'south can measure 5 feet. Giraffes have 7 neck bones, the same number every bit other mammals, and the length of the cervix is the result of a disproportionate lengthening of the cervical vertebrae, not from the improver of more vertebrae. Charles Darwin's competing browsers hypothesis suggests that the elongated neck was an adaptive measure for giraffes acquired past the competitive pressure level for food from smaller browsers such as the impala and kudu. Male giraffes use their necks as a weapon in combat in the necking behavior, which is used to establish dominance for greater reproductive success. In high intensity necking, giraffes swing their head, landing thumping blows on the legs and body of the opponent, until the winner emphasizes dominance by mounting the loser.

To accommodate their massive body height, adult giraffes weigh up to two,800 pounds, while young ones weigh 200 pounds at nascence. This weight includes 25 pounds from the heart and lungs, which are the largest amid land mammals, and air is circulated through their 8 pes long windpipe.