What order does the giraffe belong to? Giraffe - the biggest heart in the world
It is the tallest land animal on the planet.
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Children's song "The giraffe has spots" Songs for children with movements Children's channel Lulyabi TV Giraffes have spots, spots, spots, spots everywhere.
Giraffes have a lot of spots! There’s even one – on the beard!
On the forehead, ears, neck, elbows, noses, bellies, knees and socks. High growth increases the load on the circulatory system, especially in relation to the supply to the brain. Therefore, giraffes have especially strong hearts. It passes 60 liters of blood per minute, weighs 12 kg and creates a pressure that is three times higher than that of a person. However, it would not be able to withstand the overload of the sudden lowering and raising of the giraffe's head. To ensure that such movements do not cause the death of the animal, the giraffe's blood is thicker and has twice the density of blood cells than that of humans. In addition, the giraffe has special shut-off valves in the great jugular vein, interrupting the flow of blood so that pressure is maintained in the main artery supplying the brain. The giraffe's dark tongue is very long and muscular: the giraffe can protrude it up to 45 cm and is able to grab branches with it.
Giraffes live alone or in small herds that are not particularly attached to each other. The area they travel around in search of food can be up to 100 km². Social behavior depends on gender: females adhere to herds of 4 to 32 individuals, in which the composition changes from time to time. The hierarchical structures and behavior of giraffes in a herd are not yet fully understood. Giraffes do not have a single leader, but older and stronger males, called elders, have an advantage over others. Young males before reaching sexual maturity are also small separate groups, after which they begin to live alone. Giraffes often move with herds of antelopes or zebras, as this gives them greater safety. When two adult males meet, it often comes down to a ritual duel, in which they stand next to each other and try to headbutt the opponent’s neck. However, unlike other social animals, defeated male giraffes are not expelled from the herd. During mating periods, fights between males are more aggressive in nature and can reach such desperation that one of the competitors may eventually be “beaten” until he loses consciousness. An option for a showdown could be a duel near a tree, in which everyone tries to get around their opponent in such a way as to pin him to the trunk. There were no cases of giraffes using their dangerous front hooves against each other, as they usually do against predators.
It is widely believed that giraffes are voiceless animals. However, in reality they communicate with each other at frequencies below 20 Hz, inaudible to the human ear.
Mating season usually lasts from July to September, and the duration of pregnancy is 14-15 months. As a rule, only one cub is born. Birth occurs in a standing position, so the first thing a newborn will experience is a fall from a height of two meters. Immediately after birth, the baby giraffe reaches 1.8 m in height and 50 kg. After just an hour, the cub stands firmly on its feet and after a few hours begins to run. However, cubs are allowed into the herd only after two to three weeks. The offspring stays with the mother for about a year and a half. At the age of four the giraffe reaches sexual maturity, at the age of six it reaches full height. IN wildlife Life expectancy is about 25 years, in captivity about 35.
Due to its size, the giraffe has little natural enemies, and from those few predators that dare to attack him, he defends himself quite effectively with blows from his front hooves. Such a blow can crush the skull of any predator. In Etosha National Park, lions were once observed to jump on a giraffe and bite its neck. However, attacks on adult giraffes are still rare. More often, young animals become prey for lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. Despite maternal protection, only 25-50% of young giraffes reach adulthood.
Giraffe and man
North African populations were already hunted in ancient times by the Greeks and Romans. Sometimes giraffes were even used for displays in the Colosseum. In general, the giraffe was little known in Europe. Although the constellation Giraffe exists in the northern hemisphere, it is a relatively new convention and has no mythological origin. IN black Africa Giraffes were hunted by digging holes and traps. Their long sinews were used to string bows and strings musical instruments, clothing made from giraffe skin served as a symbol of high status among many peoples. Giraffe meat is tough, but edible. The hunting of giraffes by African tribes has never reached a scale that could seriously threaten their numbers. With the arrival of white settlers, the main motive for hunting giraffes became entertainment, and the number of giraffes began to decline sharply. Today, giraffes are rare animals almost everywhere. Only in the states of East Africa do large populations still exist. Total number giraffes are estimated at 110,000-150,000. There are about 13 thousand individuals in the Serengeti reserve. In general, giraffes are not considered a critically endangered species. Today they are kept in many large zoos around the world and successfully breed in captivity.
Based on their patterns and places of origin, giraffes are divided into subspecies. Crossbreeding is possible between individual subspecies. There are nine modern subspecies:
- Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis) is the nominate subspecies. Inhabits eastern Sudan, western Ethiopia
- Giraffa camelopardalis peralta Thomas, 1898 - Kenya to Angola, the country after which it was named.
Initially, subspecies of giraffes were considered independent species. Then this point of view was rejected, and scientists debated the delimitation of individual subspecies. There are often differences in pattern even within closely related herds. Therefore, some researchers were of the opinion that the characteristics of giraffe subspecies are not hereditary (and therefore, true geographical subspecies do not exist). In addition to the above subspecies, in North Africa in ancient times there were some subspecies that no longer exist today. Since some ancient Egyptian images show giraffes without spots, it has been suggested that the North African subspecies were uniformly colored and unpatterned. There are, however, also images of giraffes with spots that call such assumptions into question.
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Many of the pictures amazed me. But what really shocked me wasn't the work of art, it was... the giraffe. I was shocked to the core when I learned that there was such a creature on our planet. It happened at the zoo. I was 3 or 4 years old. At first I saw an elephant, but it did not surprise me: I probably already knew something about it. My parents and I approached big tree. And suddenly a giraffe with a long, very long neck came out from behind him. At that moment I thought: “What is this anyway?” I had never heard of giraffes before and was stunned. Even now I think about how strange giraffes are, they still fascinate me. And the thought that I live in the same universe as the giraffe makes me happy.
Giraffe(lat. Giraffa camelopardalis) is a rather colorful and unusual in appearance animal belonging to the class mammals, order ruminant artiodactyls, family giraffidae, genus giraffes.
Description of the giraffe, appearance, characteristics.
The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world. The height (height) of the giraffe reaches 5.5 - 6.1 meters, a third of which falls on its famous neck. The weight of a male giraffe can range from 500 kg to 1900 kg, and the heart weighs as much as 12 kg: about 60 liters of blood passes through its valves per minute, and the pressure inside the vessels exceeds the standard pressure of an average person by 3 times. Due to the high density of blood, even abrupt change The position of the giraffe's head does not lead to a deterioration in the animal's condition. Despite its impressive length, the giraffe’s neck fully meets the standard characteristics of a mammal - the giraffe has 7 cervical vertebrae, each of which reaches a length of 25 cm. The main jugular vein has in its design special locking valves that are responsible for a uniform supply of blood with the same pressure.
The giraffe has quite interesting language: dark, almost Brown, long and very muscular, it allows the animal to grab tree branches on high altitude, while protruding 40-45 cm. Thus long tongue giraffes can even clean own ears.
Giraffe color.
The color of the giraffe is also worthy of attention: the pattern of spots on the skin is absolutely unique and individual, like a person’s fingerprints, and is never repeated in two individuals. The head of both the male and female giraffe is decorated with a pair of horns covered with fur, big eyes fringed with long eyelashes and small ears crown the elongated head of the giraffe.
Giraffe legs.
Despite the subtle overall dimensions legs, these mammals run well (the speed of the giraffe is 60 km/h) and jump well, overcoming barriers more than 1.5 meters high. True, the tallest animal in the world can only actively move on a hard surface - the giraffe avoids swampy soil and rivers.
How do giraffes sleep?
Giraffe tucks long legs under himself, moving one of them to the side, and then, bending into a ball, puts his head on his croup. Giraffes can also sleep standing up.
Sleep does not last long: during the night the giraffe gets up every now and then to drink or eat something. The mammal does not require many hours of sleep - a giraffe only needs from 10 minutes to 2 hours of sleep per day.
How giraffes sleep
Types of giraffes.
In the giraffe family, only 1 species of giraffe is distinguished; the remaining 5 species are considered extinct. Giraffes are classified mainly depending on where the animal lives and its color pattern. Experts count 9 subspecies (varieties) of giraffes:
- lives in eastern Sudan and western Ethiopia. It has distinctive chestnut spots edged with rich white lines; males are also distinguished by an impressive bony growth on the frontal part of the skull;
- Ugandan giraffe (Rothschild) lives in Uganda. Known throughout the world for the beauty of its large brown spots, separated by wide white stripes;
- Reticulated giraffe (Somali) lives in northern Kenya and southern Somalia. A network of juicy brown-red spots of medium size with sharp edges and thin white lines distinguishes this subspecies from a number of relatives; females often lack a growth on the skull;
- lives in Namibia and Botswana. Large brown spots with elongated accent corners give the animal’s color an extraordinary attractiveness;
- Kordofan giraffe lives in western Sudan and the Central African Republic. Notable for the unevenness of the spots, the density of which increases below the hocks;
- Masai giraffe lives in southern Kenya and Tanzania. The spots mostly decorate the legs, the shape of which is more like a star;
- lives in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique. The golden skin is decorated with dark round spots that rarely reach the hooves;
- lives in Zambia. The lighter skin has medium-sized jagged dark spots.
- is in danger of extinction. In 2007, the number of individuals was only 175 animals. Habitat: Chad.
Where does the giraffe live?
The giraffe lives in the savannas of sunny Africa; the giraffe does not live on other continents. Over the past 50 years, herds of giraffes can often be found in the southern and south-eastern regions of the Sahara, as well as drier areas of uninhabited land. Due to the elongated body structure and low level water consumption, this animal can live in the open forests of Africa.
In the Middle Ages, there were many legends about an animal with cow hooves, similar to a camel, but with spotted coloring, wandering across the plains of Africa. Now everyone in this description recognizes the inhabitant of the shroud, the giraffe, who, like in ancient times, travels across the African plains. But today, the habitat of giraffes has decreased significantly. This happened for two main reasons: mass extermination of animals by humans and anthropogenic destruction natural environment a habitat.
Nowadays animals inhabit only a small amount of territory of the former range.
Where do giraffes live?
According to scientists, the first giraffes appeared about 15 million years ago in Central Asia, from where they later settled in Europe and Africa. The most ancient remains of giraffes were found in Africa and Israel. Their approximate age is 1.5 million years.
In ancient times, giraffes inhabited almost the entire African continent. They even lived in the Nile Delta in Ancient Egypt and on the banks Mediterranean Sea. And also, about 1,400 years ago, giraffes were common representatives of the fauna of Morocco.
Giraffes live on the savanna plains, where their main food, acacia, is almost always abundant. Read more about giraffe nutrition in the article. The bulk of giraffes live in the South and East Africa. They live in herds of no more than 30 individuals. Such groups consist of relatives and lonely giraffes accepted into the herd. The size of the herd may change; some individuals may leave and others may come.
In the giraffe family, there are also subspecies that inhabit different African countries. Now there are 9 subspecies of giraffes in the world, the most famous is Masai giraffe, he resides in Kenya and Tanzania. Second in number, as well as in fame - reticulated giraffe, lives in the vast expanses of southern Somalia and eastern Kenya. View Rothschild's giraffe found in Uganda and in the Lake Baringo region in Kenya. South African giraffe lives in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Nubian giraffe- inhabitant of the fauna of eastern Sudan and Western Ethiopia. Kordofan giraffe is a resident of the Central African Republic and western Sudan. Thornycroft's giraffe lives in Zambia. West African giraffe once found throughout the territory West Africa, now only to Chad. Angolan giraffe lives in Botswana and Namibia. In the country after which it was named, the subspecies was completely destroyed.
One of the most famous and beloved animals is giraffe. It’s interesting that even those who have never seen him live love him. And it’s definitely worth looking at it at least once in your life.
This is an incredibly graceful animal, elegant and graceful. However, it seems so only at first glance. In fact, the giraffe is simply huge, because its height reaches 6 meters, this tallest animal. And such an animal weighs about a ton, and, it happens, even more. Females are generally smaller.
Of course, the unusualness of this family of giraffes lies, first of all, in its extraordinary neck. Compared to the body, it is simply incredibly long.
But meanwhile, it has only 7 cervical vertebrae, like any other animal that has a regular or even a very short neck. But the giraffe’s neck muscles are very powerful. They are capable of not only holding the head of this beast high above, but also allowing the large, heavy neck to perform any manipulation.
It is believed that no giraffes have the same pattern of spots.
This animal has a very strong and large heart, weighing 12 kg. The work of this organ is not easy, because it is necessary to pump blood to the brain and disperse it throughout the body, and since the brain is far above, it is very important for the giraffe to maintain required pressure, it is three times higher in this animal than in ordinary person.
With such pressure, the animal could die if the head was suddenly lowered or raised - too much overload. But nature has made the giraffe’s blood very thick and dense, and the animal’s veins are equipped with valves that control the flow of blood.
Giraffes' tongue also unusual. It is too dark in color and can protrude almost half a meter. The animal needs this in order to cling to tree branches that grow especially high.
On the head there are large eyes with thick eyelashes, giraffes have excellent eyesight. He is able to spot other giraffes at a distance of a kilometer. The ears are not large, although the hearing is excellent.
The giraffe's tongue has an unusual color
There is also no need to complain about the sense of smell; it is well developed in the giraffe. On the head there are horns covered with hair. Sometimes you can find a giraffe with two pairs of horns. And some individuals also have a horn - in the middle of the forehead, although, in reality, this is a bone growth that is not a horn.
The legs of these animals are long and thin. Because they have to wear too heavy weight, giraffes can only move on hard and dense surfaces.
Therefore, giraffes cannot tolerate swamps, and even more so rivers. They prefer to move slowly, smoothly, without sudden movements. However, there is no need to think about This animal, as about a lump. Giraffe if necessary, he is able to run at a speed of 55 km/h and make jumps in height of more than 1.8 meters.
Strong body The animal is covered with uniform, short hair, which has a peculiar color. Spots are located on a lighter background various shapes and in a chaotic manner. The shape and location of the spots are individual, just like fingerprints on a person’s hand.
Giraffes sleep in this position
But all giraffes do not have spots on their bellies. These amazing creatures live only in Africa. They are especially comfortable in the savannas, which are located in the south and east, below the Sahara.
However, at least real animal world giraffe and comfortable for its residence, the number is constantly falling. To preserve the population, special reserves, reserves, and protected areas are created where the peace of these animals is protected, allowing them to reproduce and live long life in natural conditions.
But giraffe such animal, which people want to see live, and not just on the picture. Therefore, many zoos have these magnificent animals. In captivity, individuals reproduce very well, quickly get used to new conditions and live without feeling any discomfort.
Character and lifestyle of the giraffe
Giraffes rarely live alone. Most often they gather in small groups, which can hardly be called herds. Females, for example, can gather in groups of 4 to 30 heads. At the same time, the composition of the group can constantly change.
Giraffes can gather in large herds and small groups
And even in such groups they are not too attached to each other. It is enough for an animal to know that its brothers are grazing next to it, and it is not at all necessary to contact them.
In addition, these giants have few enemies, so there is no need to unite into a strong, reliable herd. Although, when moving in search of food, giraffes can join other herds, for example.
In such herds, it is easier for mothers to defend themselves from or, which rarely attack adult animals, but hunt babies. But after Right place found, the proud leave their companions - antelopes.
There are no leaders or leaders in groups, but older animals still enjoy special authority. Fights also occur when two strong, adult males meet.
The photo shows male giraffes fighting
Their fights involve headbutting the opponent's neck. Usually, great cruelty is not observed, but during the mating season, males become more aggressive.
But even then they do not use kicks, which are considered the most dangerous and are used only when defending against predators. It is known that such a blow can easily split the opponent's skull.
But giraffes are peaceful towards their fellow creatures. In addition, a male who has been defeated can calmly remain in the herd further; no one expels him, as other animals do.
It is believed that giraffes do not make sounds at all. This is not true. These animals have a voice, but it is much lower than the frequencies that the human ear can distinguish.
Giraffes have one more thing amazing property– they sleep less than any animal. They don't sleep more than two hours a day, and that's enough for them. They can sleep standing up, or they can lie down with their head on their torso.
Nutrition
Giraffe artiodactyl, exclusively herbivore. They are ruminants, the same as, and chew their food several times, because they have a four-chambered stomach.
The main diet of the animal is leaves of trees and shrubs. Most of all, gourmets prefer acacia. Males choose the highest branches, while they stretch their necks even more and seem even more majestic.
Females do not strive to visually increase their height; they are content with the vegetation that is located at the level of their body. The animals immediately grab the entire branch with their tongue and pull it into their mouth, stripping off all the leaves. In order to feed themselves, giraffes eat up to 20 hours a day, because they need at least 30 kg.
The food they eat is so rich in juices that giraffes have very little need for water. For weeks, or even months, this large animal can go without drinking. When a giraffe drinks, it can drink about 40 liters at once.
There is no such amount of water at the top, so when drinking, the animal is forced to bend its neck very low and spread its front legs wide apart. This is the most uncomfortable and vulnerable position; it is in this position that the giraffe is clumsy and clumsy.
To get drunk, the giraffe has to take the most vulnerable pose
Therefore, he starts drinking only in full confidence that there is no danger nearby. By the way, this is why giraffes do not like to nibble grass.
Reproduction and lifespan
The mating season and mating itself falls during the rainy season. But the birth itself most often occurs from May to August, that is, during the months of drought. Pregnancy for a female giraffe lasts more than a year - 457 days, but the baby is born already about 2 meters tall. The female brings one cub, rarely, but twins can also be born.
Within 15 minutes after birth, the baby rises to its feet and begins to feed mother's milk. At this time, they are completely defenseless, so they are forced to hide throughout the first week after birth.
Interestingly, after 3-4 weeks of birth, giraffes begin to separate from their calves, leaving them in the care of other adult females. The mother can go 200 meters from the herd and return only in the evening to feed the baby.
This continues until the cubs are able to accompany the mother. The babies grow up quickly, but will be with the female for 12-16 months. True, young males separate from their mother at 12-14 months of age.
They begin to live alone until they become strong, sexually mature males. And sexual maturity in males occurs at 4-5 years. However, giraffes begin to mate only after they are 7 years old.
Females, most often, remain in the herd. They become sexually mature at 3-4 years, however, they do not rush to become mothers for at least a year. These interesting animals live in the wild for up to 25 years. Even in captivity, in specially created conditions, under the supervision of veterinarians, the life expectancy of these beauties did not exceed a record 28 years.
Giraffe
Giraffe is an African animal. They live in open steppes - savannas with sparsely located trees and shrubs. They live in small herds of 12-15 individuals. They feed mainly on leaves and branches of various acacias.
Giraffes are very peaceful creatures. They unite in small herds. Each member of this herd is very respectful of the others, respects and loves their leader. There are almost no fights. If it is necessary to find out who should lead the herd, bloodless duels are arranged. The contenders come close and begin to hit each other with their necks.
The duel between males does not last long, no more than a quarter of an hour. The defeated one retreats, but he is not expelled from the herd, as is the case with many animals, but remains in it as an ordinary member.
The birth of a giraffe is a joyful event for the entire herd. When a baby giraffe is born, every adult gently greets it with a touch of its nose.
Giraffes courageously protect babies, no matter whose they are. The mother especially protects her offspring. She, without hesitation, rushes towards a pack of hyenas, does not retreat in front of lions, even if there are several of them.
After ten days, small horns appear on the baby giraffe (before this, the horns were as if pressed in). He is already quite firmly on his feet. The mother finds other females nearby with the same babies and they arrange for their offspring “ kindergarten" This is where danger lurks for children: each parent begins to rely on the others and her vigilance becomes dull. The baby giraffe runs away from supervision and easily becomes prey for predators. Only 25–30% of them survive to a year.
EThe giraffe was first called "camelopardalis" by Europeans ("camel" - camel, "pardis" - leopard), because it resembles a camel (in its manner of movement) and a leopard (due to its spotted color).
The first giraffe was brought to Europe by Gaius Julius Caesar in 46 BC. e.. In modern times, the first giraffe brought was an animal brought by the Arabs in 1827. The animal's nickname was Zarafa, which in Arabic means “dressy.” So Zharafa (pronounced in a European manner) gave the species its name. Therefore, even today the word “giraffe” in most languages is pronounced almost in Russian.The giraffe is the tallest animal on earth, with an average height of five meters. The length of one giraffe step is 6-8 m.
Giraffes have the most a big heart and the highest blood pressure of any land animal. After all, a giraffe's heart pumps blood approximately 3 meters up the neck to reach the brain! The giraffe's heart is truly huge: it weighs 11 kilograms, has a length of 60 centimeters and walls 6 centimeters thick.
The giraffe also has the longest tongue of any mammal (50 cm). The giraffe's tongue is black. A giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue.
Giraffe's vision is sharper than any other African mammal, with the exception of the cheetah. In addition huge growth allows you to notice objects at a very long distance.
The giraffe's neck has only seven vertebrae - the same number as the human neck. Although the giraffe's neck is over 1.5 m in length, there are only seven cervical vertebrae, like most other mammals, including humans. It’s just that each cervical vertebra is greatly elongated.
Although giraffes sometimes sleep lying down, large quantity At times, they are in an upright position and sleep standing up, sometimes placing their head between two branches to avoid falling.INTERESTING FACTS about giraffes.
Each giraffe's color is unique.
Scientists say it is impossible to find two identically colored giraffes. The patterns of each animal are strictly individual, unique, characteristic only of it (just like the pattern on a person’s fingers).
Giraffes are pacers.
Maybe because the giraffe's front legs are longer than the back ones,The giraffe moves at an amble - that is, it alternately brings forward both its right legs and then both left legs. Therefore, the running of a giraffe looks Very awkwardly: the back and front legs cross, but the speed reaches 50 km/h! During a gallop, the giraffe's neck and head swing strongly, making a figure eight, and the tail either swings from side to side, or is raised high and curled over the back.There are five-horned giraffes.
Males and females have a pair of short, blunt horns covered with skin on the top of their heads. In males they are more massive and longer - up to 23 cm. Sometimes there is a third horn, on the forehead, approximately between the eyes; in males it is more common and more developed. Two bony outgrowths in the upper part of the back of the head, to which the neck muscles and ligaments are attached, can also grow greatly, resembling the shape of horns, which are called posterior, or occipital. It turns out that some individuals have well-developed three true horns and two posterior ones - that’s why they are called “five-horned” giraffes. Many old males generally have “bumps” all over their heads.
A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel.
Giraffes are ruminants like cows. They have a four-chambered stomach, and their jaws constantly chew cud—partially chewed food that is regurgitated from the first chamber of the stomach for secondary chewing. Giraffes prefer thorny acacia trees, so the giraffe's mouth is surrounded by a stratum corneum that protects it from sharp thorns, and its saliva, which is very thick, envelops the thorns, making the act of swallowing easier.
They also often feed on other shrubs and grass. Because giraffes' food is very succulent, they can go without water for many weeks, possibly months.Giraffes silently “talk.”
It has been known for a long time that many animals can communicate using sounds that are not perceptible to the human ear. Dolphins, for example, use ultrasound for this. Giraffes are just like elephants blue whales and alligators prefer to “chat” in the infrasonic range.
In zoos, scientists recorded hours of giraffe “conversations” on film. All sounds produced by these tall animals have a frequency below 20 hertz and are inaudible to humans. This is why giraffes have had the reputation of being "dumb" for so long.Research results indicate that in 24 hours giraffes produce several hundred sounds varying in duration, frequency and amplitude in the infrasound range. All these differences allow us to talk about communication between giraffes, and not just consider the sounds they make as noise.
By the way, it is a mistaken belief that giraffes do not make any audible sounds at all. They may roar or moo loudly in dangerous situations.
Enemies.
Adult giraffes have only two serious enemies - lions and humans.
Most often, the lion attacks when the giraffe is lying or standing, awkwardly bent, drinking water or nibbling grass. Young giraffes are also preyed upon by other predators, such as leopards and hyenas. If the giraffe fails to escape, it fights off with its feet. The kick from the sharp hoof is so strong that it can decapitate a lion.
Human for a long time he killed giraffes for meat, tendons (for making bow strings, ropes and strings of musical instruments), tail tassels (for bracelets, fly swatters and threads) and skin (from which they made shields, drums, whips, sandals, etc.). Uncontrolled hunting has become one of the main reasons for the decline in both the numbers and distribution of these animals.