Жираф

• The kicks of a giraffe can crush a predator's skull. In Etosha National Park, lions once jumped on a giraffe and bit through its neck.
• Giraffes can run very fast, reaching speeds of 55 km/h and outpacing a racehorse on short distances. When necessary, they break into a gallop.
• The dark tongue of a giraffe is very long and muscular: a giraffe can extend it 45 cm and use it to grasp branches. The tongue allows grasping branches, as it reaches 45 cm in length.
• Defeated male giraffes are not driven out of the herd. During mating periods, fights between males can be so aggressive that they cause one opponent to lose consciousness.
• A giraffe's long neck helps males attract females, as males with longer necks more often won and received more attention. Neck fighting occurred due to the need to attract females.
• Giraffes communicate with frequencies below 20 Hz, inaudible to the human ear. Their mating season lasts from July to September.
• Every giraffe has a unique spot pattern.
• A giraffe has locking valves in the large neck vein, which maintain pressure in the artery supplying the brain. These valves interrupt blood flow to prevent pressure drop during rapid movements.
• In 2007, the existence of six giraffe species was proven, practically fully reproductively isolated in nature. This was the first case of such strong genetic differentiation among closely related large mammals without serious geographic barriers.
• The giraffe's tongue and lips are structured to avoid damage from thorny branches. It consumes about 30 kg of food daily.
• The giraffe's heart is exceptionally strong. It pumps 60 liters of blood per minute and creates pressure three times higher than human pressure.
• The giraffe has an unusually long neck, and like most mammals, it has seven cervical vertebrae. Manatees and sloths have more cervical vertebrae than giraffes.
• Giraffes sleep only 1.9 hours per day. Among all mammals, they have one of the smallest sleep needs — from 10 minutes to 2 hours per day.
• The giraffe got its name "camelopard" due to the mistaken belief that it is a hybrid of a camel and a leopard. Greeks and Romans called it "camelopardalis" because of this confusion.
• Giraffes sleep in nature, but this was recorded only in the 1970s. The first documentary photographs of a sleeping giraffe in nature were taken by Bernhard Grzimek.
• Giraffes can jump over barriers 1.85 m high. They avoid swampy areas, and rivers often become an insurmountable obstacle.
• The giraffe is the tallest terrestrial animal on Earth. Males reach a height of up to 5.5–6.1 m and weigh up to 900–1200 kg.
• The Angolan giraffe is extinct in Angola — the country after which it was named. Three other subspecies have also become extremely rare.
• Giraffes usually move slowly, synchronizing the movement of their hoof pairs. This way of moving is characteristic for them, as due to their large mass and thin legs, giraffes can only walk on solid surfaces.
• A giraffe calf reaches a height of 1.8 m and weighs 50 kg immediately after birth. Within an hour it stands firmly on its legs and starts running a few hours later.
• Giraffe blood is thicker than human blood and has twice as many blood cells. To prevent such movements from causing the animal's death, giraffe blood is thicker than human blood and has twice the density of blood cells.
• Giraffes nibble grass like they drink water, but only during times of hunger. At this time, they use the same posture as when drinking and become especially vulnerable to predators.
• When the head is lowered, a special vascular network protects the brain.
• Giraffes do not have a single leader, but older and stronger males, called elders, have an advantage over others. Young males live separately from the rest until they reach sexual maturity.
• Many giraffid species in the early Miocene had large sizes and robust body structure, especially the genus Helladotherium. The genus Helladotherium in particular was distinguished by especially large size and robust body structure.