Giraffes Research Paper

Irene Anderson

Mammalogy Lab

Emily Evans

20 April 2015

Giraffes, Uncovered

Giraffes are the tallest mammals on Earth and that is why I chose to write a paper on them. I want to learn more about them and how they have evolved and survived throughout evolutionary history. Giraffes are in the order Artiodactyla, family Giraffidae, genus Giraffa and species Giraffa camelopardalis. They are native to Africa, mainly found in southern parts, below the Sahara. Giraffes inhabit dry, arid land like savannas, grasslands, or open woodlands. Giraffes are herbivores and more specifically browsers, meaning that they eat foliage off of trees, like leaves or fruits. They are also ruminants and have a four-chambered stomach. The diet of a giraffe consists of

Male giraffes stand at about 18 ft. and females can reach up to 15 ft. At birth calves are about 6 ft. tall. All giraffes have a spotted coat, which helps with camouflage in the scrub forests. The coat is like a fingerprint and stays the same for the giraffe’s entire life. The internal systems of a giraffe are amazing. The blood pressure of a giraffe is twice that of a human and the heart is about the size of a basketball. Giraffes have legs that are long and sturdy. The blood vessels of the legs are under immense pressure because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them. To solve this problem, the skin around the legs is tight and thick to prevent blood pooling. Additionally, the front legs are longer than the back ones. Giraffes have long necks that can be up to 2 m long. The necks contain 7 elongated vertebrae and there are varying theories about how the neck evolved. One theory, the “competing browsers hypothesis” hypothesized by Charles Darwin, suggests, “competitive pressure from smaller browsers encouraged the elongation of the neck, as it enabled giraffes to reach food that competitors could not” (Wikipedia, 2015). The other theory is the “sexual selection hypothesis” that suggests that the long necks were selected for sexually. Both theories seem plausible, but the sexual selection hypothesis does not account for why females have long

Depending on the resources available to the researcher, they can choose a variety ways to conduct the research. It also gives the researcher a first person view of how the animal is behaving, without having to watch it in a video or read another persons account. Observational research also goes along well with other forms of research, giving the researcher another perspective to look at. There are disadvantages in observational research as well. Observational research is very time consuming and also requires copious amounts of resources. The research will always be limited by the amount of resources that are required to complete it. Observer bias and observer effect can also be disadvantages. If the researcher reports information that they wanted to see or thought they saw, that would render the research an unreliable source. Also, if the researcher’s presence affects the animal’s behavior, then the observation would not be accurate, and again, the research would be