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Description About Gir

Giraffes are the tallest land mammals, reaching heights of up to 5.5 meters with long necks and legs, yet they have the same number of neck bones as humans. They communicate through low-frequency sounds and body language, and their unique physiology allows them to manage high blood pressure and avoid fainting. Interestingly, giraffes only sleep about 30 minutes a day and give birth standing up, with calves dropping six feet at birth.

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JoséNoboa
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14 views1 page

Description About Gir

Giraffes are the tallest land mammals, reaching heights of up to 5.5 meters with long necks and legs, yet they have the same number of neck bones as humans. They communicate through low-frequency sounds and body language, and their unique physiology allows them to manage high blood pressure and avoid fainting. Interestingly, giraffes only sleep about 30 minutes a day and give birth standing up, with calves dropping six feet at birth.

Uploaded by

JoséNoboa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Giraffes – Towering, Silent, and Surprisingly Strange

Giraffes are the tallest land mammals on Earth, and honestly? They seem
like nature’s most stylish accident. With their insanely long necks,
impossibly long legs, and iconic spots, giraffes look like someone tried to
stretch a horse in Photoshop and gave up halfway. But behind the weird
proportions is a fascinating animal that’s surprisingly graceful, intelligent,
and complex.

Let’s start with the basics: adult giraffes can reach up to 5.5 meters (18
feet) in height, and their necks alone can be over 6 feet long. You’d
think they have tons of neck bones, but nope—they have the same
number as humans (seven), just massively elongated. That long neck
helps them reach the best leaves on tall acacia trees, far above where
other herbivores can graze.

Despite their size, giraffes are surprisingly quiet. For a long time, scientists
thought they didn’t make any vocalizations at all. Turns out, they do—but
at such low frequencies that human ears usually can’t detect them.
They also communicate through body language and necking—a
behavior where males swing their necks and slam into each other in slow-
motion combat to establish dominance.

Their hearts are huge—we’re talking over 11 kg (25 lbs)—and they


need to be, to pump blood all the way up that skyscraper of a neck. Their
blood pressure is around twice as high as a human’s, and their
circulatory system is specially designed to prevent fainting every time
they lower or raise their heads.

And get this: giraffes only sleep around 30 minutes a day, often in
short bursts while standing. They're constantly on alert for predators like
lions, and their height gives them a major advantage in spotting danger.

Oh—and baby giraffes? Born standing up, and they drop 6 feet at birth
onto the ground. Welcome to the world, kid.

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