"are considered Vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. In 2016, around 97,000 individuals from all subspecies were present in the wild. There are currently 5,195 northern giraffes. In the current IUCN taxonomic scheme there is only one species of giraffe with the name ""G. camelopardalis"" and nine subspecies. Three subspecies of northern giraffes are proposed. The giraffes have two horn-like protuberances known as ossicones on their foreheads. The northern giraffe's are longer and larger than that of the southern giraffes', though male northern giraffes have a third cylindrical ossicone in the center of the head just above the eyes which"
"Ossicone Ossicones are horn- or antler-like protuberances on the heads of giraffes, male okapis, and their extinct relatives, such as ""Sivatherium"", and the climacoceratids, such as ""Climacoceras"". It has been argued that these extinct species did not have true ossicones; however, later research has revealed their ossicones to be in line with those of giraffids. Ossicones are located dorsal to the frontal bone and fuse to the skull later in life. Ossicones are similar to the horns of antelopes and cattle, except that they are derived from ossified cartilage rather than living bone, and that the ossicones remain covered in"
"sometimes fatal, blows. The added weight is an evolutionary trait bred from necessity. The addition of ossicones also leads to other evolutionary adaptations like heavy hides and specialized dermal shields. Ossicone Ossicones are horn- or antler-like protuberances on the heads of giraffes, male okapis, and their extinct relatives, such as ""Sivatherium"", and the climacoceratids, such as ""Climacoceras"". It has been argued that these extinct species did not have true ossicones; however, later research has revealed their ossicones to be in line with those of giraffids. Ossicones are located dorsal to the frontal bone and fuse to the skull later in"
"the animal's neck is a mane made of short, erect hairs. The one-metre (3.3-ft) tail ends in a long, dark tuft of hair and is used as a defense against insects. Both sexes have prominent horn-like structures called ossicones, which are formed from ossified cartilage, covered in skin and fused to the skull at the parietal bones. Being vascularized, the ossicones may have a role in thermoregulation, and are also used in combat between males. Appearance is a reliable guide to the sex or age of a giraffe: the ossicones of females and young are thin and display tufts of"
"skin and fur, rather than horny keratin. Antlers (such as on deer) are derived from bone tissue: when mature, the skin and fur covering of the antlers, termed ""velvet"", is sloughed and scraped off to expose the bone of the antlers. Ossicones are present at birth; however, they lie flat and are not attached to the skull as to avoid injury at birth. Male and female ossicones vary in structure and purpose. Males typically have thicker ossicones that become bald on top due to frequent necking. These ossicones also add weight to the giraffe's head allowing them to deliver heavier,"
"alces""). Ossicones are permanent bone structures that fuse to the frontal or parietal bones during the lifetime of an animal. They are found only in the Giraffidae and closely related extinct clades, represented in modern animals by the Giraffe (""Giraffa camelopardalis"") and the Okapi (""Okapia johnstoni""). Pronghorns are similar to horns in that they have keratinous sheaths covering permanent bone cores; however, these sheaths are deciduous and can be shed like antlers. Very little is known about the development of pronghorns, but they are generally presumed to have evolved independently. The only extant animal with pronghorns is the Pronghorn antelope"
"antlers annually, and thus can be honest signals of metabolic efficiency and food gathering capability. Ossicones are horn-like (or antler-like) protuberances that can be found on the heads of giraffes and male okapis today. They are similar to the horns of antelopes and cattle, save that they are derived from ossified cartilage, and that the ossicones remain covered in skin and fur, rather than horn. Antlers (such as on deer) are derived from bone tissue: when mature, the skin and fur covering of the antlers, termed ""velvet"", is sloughed and scraped off to expose the bone of the antlers. Pronghorn"
"million years ago) and the recent past. One major group of extinct giraffids, the sivatheres, had enormous, branching ossicones, and would have looked more like massive deer than giraffes. Molecular studies present the Giraffidae as a sister group to the Cervidae, Moschidae, and Bovidae. The giraffe stands tall, with males taller than females. The giraffe and the okapi have characteristic long necks and long legs. Ossicones are present on males and females in the giraffe but only on males in the okapi. Giraffids share many common features with other ruminants. They have cloven hooves and cannon bones, much like bovids,"
"in the lower legs are under great pressure because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them. To solve this problem, the skin of the lower legs is thick and tight; preventing too much blood from pouring into them. Giraffes have oesophageal muscles that are unusually strong to allow regurgitation of food from the stomach up the neck and into the mouth for rumination. They have four chambered stomachs, as in all ruminants, and the first chamber has adapted to their specialised diet. The intestines of an adult giraffe measure more than in length and have a relatively small"
"Ossicle (echinoderm) Ossicles are small calcareous elements embedded in the dermis of the body wall of echinoderms. They form part of the endoskeleton and provide rigidity and protection. They are found in different forms and arrangements in sea urchins, starfish, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and crinoids. The ossicles and spines (which are specialised sharp ossicles) are the only parts of the animal likely to be fossilized after an echinoderm dies. Ossicles are created intracellularly by specialised secretory cells known as sclerocytes in the dermis of the body wall of echinoderms. Each ossicle is composed of microcrystals of calcite arranged in"
"Giraffe The giraffe (""Giraffa"") is a genus of African even-toed ungulate mammals, the tallest living terrestrial animals and the largest ruminants. The genus currently consists of one species, ""Giraffa camelopardalis"", the type species. Seven other species are extinct, prehistoric species known from fossils. Taxonomic classifications of one to eight extant giraffe species have been described, based upon research into the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements of ""Giraffa,"" but the IUCN currently recognises only one species with nine subspecies. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its distinctive"
"Carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron. In crustaceans, the carapace functions as a protective cover over the cephalothorax. Where it projects forward beyond the eyes, this projection is called a rostrum. The carapace is calcified to varying degrees in different crustaceans. Zooplankton within the phylum Crustacea also have a carapace. These include Cladocera, ostracods, and isopods, but isopods only have a"
"ratio of small to large intestine. The liver of the giraffe is small and compact. A gallbladder is generally present during fetal life, but it may disappear before birth. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and open woodlands. They prefer Acacieae, ""Commiphora"", ""Combretum"" and open ""Terminalia"" woodlands over denser environments like ""Brachystegia"" woodlands. The Angolan giraffe can be found in desert environments. Giraffes browse on the twigs of trees, preferring trees of the subfamily Acacieae and the genera ""Commiphora"" and ""Terminalia"", which are important sources of calcium and protein to sustain the giraffe's growth rate. They also feed on shrubs, grass and"
"in skin, called ossicones. The giraffids evolved from a group of even-toed ungulates in the early Miocene almost . They formed part of a relatively late mammal diversification that also produced cattle, antelopes, and deer following a climate change that transformed subtropical woodlands into open savannah grasslands. The giraffids diversified into many now extinct forms that inhabited large parts of Eurasia and eventually spread into Africa, where the only still extant forms persist. The most primitive forms had short necks and were about the size of a modern red deer, somewhat similar to the modern okapi. There are two main"
"have a difficult time giving birth to young with the same neck proportions as adults. The giraffe's head and neck are held up by large muscles and a strengthened nuchal ligament, which are anchored by long dorsal spines on the anterior thoracic vertebrae, giving the animal a hump. The giraffe's neck vertebrae have ball and socket joints. In particular, the atlas–axis joint (C1 and C2) allows the animal to tilt its head vertically and reach more branches with the tongue. The point of articulation between the cervical and thoracic vertebrae of giraffes is shifted to lie between the first and"
"Okapi The okapi (; ""Okapia johnstoni""), also known as the forest giraffe, congolese giraffe or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal native to the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. Although the okapi bears striped markings reminiscent of zebras, it is most closely related to the giraffe. The okapi and the giraffe are the only living members of the family Giraffidae. The okapi stands about tall at the shoulder and has an average body length around . Its weight ranges from . It has a long neck, and large, flexible ears. Its coat is a"
"be branched, as in the white-tailed deer (""Odocoileus virginianus""), or palmate, as in the moose (""Alces alces""). ""Ossicones"" are permanent bone structures that fuse to the frontal or parietal bones during an animal's life and are found only in the Giraffidae. ""Pronghorns"", while similar to horns in that they have keratinous sheaths covering permanent bone cores, are deciduous. All these cranial appendages can serve for posturing, battling for mating privilege, and for defense. In almost all cases, they are sexually dimorphic, and often found only on the males. There are two trends in terms of teeth within Artiodactyla. The Suina"
"other living animal; the left nerve is over long. Each nerve cell in this path begins in the brainstem and passes down the neck along the vagus nerve, then branches off into the recurrent laryngeal nerve which passes back up the neck to the larynx. Thus, these nerve cells have a length of nearly in the largest giraffes. The structure of a giraffe's brain resembles that of domestic cattle. It is kept cool by evaporative heat loss in the nasal passages. The shape of the skeleton gives the giraffe a small lung volume relative to its mass. Its long neck"
"are located in dorsomedial to the external urethral sphincter motoneuron in the cat, dog, monkey, golden hamster, as well as the man. However, the location of these motoneurons differs in the rat, Mongolian gerbil and domestic pig. In the rat, these motoneurons are located in separate cell groups. In addition to differences among location of the motoneurons responsible or sphincter function, it is important to mention the differences in sexual dimorphism between species. Although sexual dimorphism of Onuf's nucleus is present in all species, the extent of the sexual dimorphism varies. For example, sexual dimorphism in the number of perineal"
"""Oregonia gracilis"" have three body segments: head, thorax and abdomen. Like many crustaceans, the head and thorax combine into a cephalothorax and are completely covered in a continuous exoskeleton called a carapace. The carapace is heart shaped, a brown, tan or grey color and 5 cm in length with five long thin walking legs (pereopods) attached to it. The first three pereopods are called maxipelleds and are used for feeding. Another pair of the legs have pincers attached and are called chelipeds. The chelipeds are used for feeding defense, and to decorate their bodies. The chelipeds, are longer than the"
"In general, appendages are absent or reduced, although in horseshoe crabs they persist as large plate-like limbs, called opercula or branchiophores, bearing the book gills, and that function in locomotion and gas exchange. In most chelicerates the opisthosomal limbs are greatly reduced and persist only as specialized structures, such as the silk-producing spinnerets of spiders or the pectines of scorpions. In animals like whip scorpions and whip spiders the first two 'sternites' bearing the book lungs may actually be highly modified opisthosomal limbs. Opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma (cephalothorax)."
"Opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma (cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects to an abdomen (and is often referred to as such), the opisthosoma is differentiated by its inclusion of the respiratory organs (book lungs or book gills) and the heart. The number of segments and appendages on the opisthosoma vary. Scorpions have 13, but the first is only seen during its embryological development. Other arachnids have fewer; harvestmen, for instance, have only ten."
"and a complex, four-chambered stomach. They have no upper incisors or upper canines, replacing them with a tough, horny pad. An especially long diastema is seen between the front and cheek teeth. The latter are selenodont, adapted for grinding up tough plant matter. Like most other ruminants, the dental formula for giraffids is . Giraffids have prehensile tongues (specially adapted for grasping). The extant giraffids, the forest-dwelling okapi and the savannah-living giraffe, have several features in common, including a pair of skin-covered horns, called ossicones, up to long (absent in female okapis); a long, black, prehensile tongue; lobed canine teeth;"
"opisthosoma). There are six pairs of prosomal appendages/legs, consisting of a small frontal pair in front of the mouth and five larger walking/pushing legs on either side of the mouth. The book gills are located on the underside of the opisthosoma. They have a long spiny tail known as the telson. The tail bears a crest dorsally and is concave ventrally, giving it an essentially triangular cross section. Despite the scientific name ""T. gigas"", the close relative ""Tachypleus tridentatus"" reaches a larger size. Both are considerably larger than ""Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda"". Like the other species, females of ""T. gigas"" grow larger"
"laterally. In more derived tetrapods the dermal part of the girdle was gradually reduced and the scapulocoracoid split into a dorsal scapula and a ventral coracoid. In dinosaurs the main bones of the pectoral girdle were the scapula (shoulder blade) and the coracoid, both of which directly articulated with the clavicle. The clavicle was present in saurischian dinosaurs but largely absent in ornithischian dinosaurs. The place on the scapula where it articulated with the humerus (upper bone of the forelimb) is the called the glenoid. The scapula served as the attachment site for a dinosaur's back and forelimb muscles. Chimpanzees"
"Suboesophageal ganglion The suboesophageal ganglion (acronym: SOG; synonym: ""subesophageal ganglion"") of arthropods and in particular insects is part of the arthropod central nervous system (CNS). As indicated by its name, it is located ""below the"" ""oesophagus"", inside the head. As part of the ventral nerve cord, it is connected (via pairs of connections) to the brain (or supraoesophageal ganglion) and to the first thoracic ganglion (or protothoracic ganglion). Its nerves innervate the sensory organs and muscles of the mouthparts and the salivary glands. It is composed of three pairs of fused ganglia, each of which is associated with a pair"
"legs in harmony or keep its head above the surface. The giraffe has an extremely elongated neck, which can be up to in length, accounting for much of the animal's vertical height. The long neck results from a disproportionate lengthening of the cervical vertebrae, not from the addition of more vertebrae. Each cervical vertebra is over long. They comprise 52–54 per cent of the length of the giraffe's vertebral column, compared with the 27–33 percent typical of similar large ungulates, including the giraffe’s closest living relative, the okapi. This elongation largely takes place after birth, perhaps because giraffe mothers would"
"Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Greek: γρύφων, ""grýphōn"", or γρύπων, ""grýpōn"", early form ""γρύψ"", ""grýps""; ) is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and sometimes an eagle's talons as its front feet. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of birds by the Middle Ages the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Since classical antiquity, Griffins were known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. In Greek and Roman texts, griffins and"
"the giraffe, only males bear horns in the okapi. The okapi has large palatine sinuses, unique among the giraffids. Morphological similarities shared between the giraffe and the okapi include a similar gait – both use a pacing gait, stepping simultaneously with the front and the hind leg on the same side of the body, unlike other ungulates that walk by moving alternate legs on either side of the body – and a long, black tongue (longer in the okapi) useful in plucking buds and leaves, as well as for grooming. Okapis are primarily diurnal, but may be active for a"
"ganglion has relocated to the left side, and the left ganglion to the right). Circumesophageal nerve ring A circumesophageal or circumpharyngeal nerve ring is an arrangement of nerve ganglia around the esophagus/ pharynx of an animal. It is a common feature of nematodes, molluscs, and many other invertebrate animals, though it is absent in all vertebrate animals and is not structurally possible in simpler one such as water bears. The nerve ring, also called a nerve collar, creates a complete and closed loop around the food-entry parts of the animal's anatomy. In a typical molluscan arrangement, these include the cerebral,"
"opisthosoma or abdomen. Segmentation has almost entirely been lost and the prosoma and opisthosoma are fused, only the positioning of the limbs indicating the location of the segments. At the front of the body is the gnathosoma or capitulum. This is not a head and does not contain the eyes or the brain, but is a retractable feeding apparatus consisting of the chelicerae, the pedipalps and the oral cavity. It is covered above by an extension of the body carapace and is connected to the body by a flexible section of cuticle. The mouthparts differ between taxa depending on diet;"
"Giraffidae The Giraffidae are a family of ruminant artiodactyl mammals that share a common ancestor with cervids and bovids. This family, once a diverse group spread throughout Eurasia and Africa, presently comprises only two extant genera, the giraffe (one species of ""Giraffa"") and the okapi (the only known species of ""Okapia""). Both are confined to sub-Saharan Africa: the giraffe to the open savannas, and the okapi to the dense rainforest of the Congo. The two genera look very different on first sight, but share a number of common features, including a long, dark-coloured tongue, lobed canine teeth, and horns covered"
"Ossification of humerus The humerus is ossified from ""eight"" centers, one for each of the following parts: the body, the head, the greater tubercle, the lesser tubercle, the capitulum, the trochlea, and one for each epicondyle. One primary and seven secondary centres . The center for the body appears near the middle of the diaphysis in the eighth week of fetal life, and soon extends toward the extremities. This is the primary centre At birth the humerus is ossified in nearly its whole length, only the extremities remaining cartilaginous. During the first year, sometimes before birth, ossification commences in the"