Ep. 86: Giraffes – 4 Species

May 22, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf, to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode, is on the gentle, graceful and tallest animal on the planet the giraffe. The giraffe has a big heart, and not just because it is a caring, social animal, but also because it requires this heart to pump blood up its long neck to its brain and as a result has the biggest physical heart of any land animal.

They are native to the tough savannas and woodlands of Africa where killers lurk at every corner and they are uniquely adapted in a number of ways to enable their survival.

Today’s mnemonic is on the four species of giraffe.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_giraffes_01.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.

The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach.

Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young.

The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_giraffes_making_out.jpg

Mnemonic

Giraffes – 4 Species – RuN SaM!

(Picture Sam the Giraffe from the book “Adventures of Sam the Giraffe” being told to run by his mother when she sees a pride of lions approach)

1. Reticulated Giraffe

2. Northern Giraffe

3. Southern Giraffe

4. Masai Giraffe

Five Fun Facts

1. Giraffes are obviously the tallest mammals on earth. They can grow up to 18 feet ……. but most only have four! Their legs are around 6 feet long and can help them reach speeds up to 56km per hour. Lastly, they don’t make great pets …….. and that’s because, they’re too high maintenance!

2. The giraffe has a design floor. Its neck though extremely long, is not long enough to reach the ground. So, in order to drink it has to either ungainly spread its front legs or kneel to bridge the distance.

3. Giraffes are extremely durable only having to drink once every few days and sleep from five to thirty minutes in a 24-hour period. Even more remarkably they do this sleeping whilst standing up, with naps of around one to two minutes at a time.

4. The markings of a giraffe are just like human fingerprints. No two giraffes have exactly the same pattern.

5. While it was thought that the giraffe was the quiet, stolid, phlegmatic type, it is now understood that giraffes communicate in a number of ways which include snorting, bellowing and hissing along with, low pitch noises unable to be heard by humans.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giraffes_-_Norfolk_Zoo_Virginia_(50310734773).jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. What are giraffes’ horns better known as?

Q.2. A giraffe has a particularly long neck and legs. Which other body part is particularly long?

Q.3. The giraffes’ coat pattern provides camouflage. What other purpose does it have? Options are: the coat pattern serves no function other than camouflage; it regulates the giraffe’s body temperature or it is important for mating.

Bonus Q. What do you call the process when two males fight?

Mnemonic Recap

Giraffes – 4 Species – RuN SaM!

(Picture Sam the Giraffe from the book “Adventures of Sam the Giraffe” being told to run by his mother when she sees a pride of lions approach)

1. Reticulated Giraffe

2. Northern Giraffe

3. Southern Giraffe

4. Masai Giraffe

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. What are giraffes’ horns better known as?

A. Ossicones

Q.2. A giraffe has a particularly long neck and legs. Which other body part is particularly long?

A. Its tongue, which can be as long as 20 inches!

A. The coat pattern regulates the giraffe’s body temperature. Giraffes don’t sweat or pant to cool down, rather the blood vessels close to the surface of the skin release heat to cool their body.

Bonus Q. What do you call the process when two males fight?

A. Necking. The male who can keep his neck the most erect wins and this fighting can go on for 20 to 30 minutes.

Word of the Week

qiviut

[ kee-vee-uht ]

noun

the soft, dense, light-brown woolly undercoat of the musk ox, used in making fabrics.

Example

The coat pattern of a giraffe is quite ornate as opposed to the Qiviut of a Musk Ox.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

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