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The giraffe's tongue is about 45 cm (18 in) long. It is black, perhaps to protect against sunburn, and can grasp foliage and delicately pick off leaves. [ 50 ] : 109–110 The upper lip is flexible and hairy to protect against sharp prickles. [ 17 ]
The Masai giraffe's most famous feature, its neck, contains seven vertebrae and makes up roughly one third of its body height. Its long and muscular tongue, which can be up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length, is prehensile and allows it to grab leaves from tall trees that are inaccessible to other animals.
The long tongue of the okapi Okapis are herbivores , feeding on tree leaves and buds, branches , grasses , ferns , fruits, and fungi . [ 35 ] They are unique in the Ituri Forest as they are the only known mammal that feeds solely on understory vegetation, where they use their 18-inch-long (46 cm) tongues to selectively browse for suitable plants.
It is true, however, that they can go significantly long periods without drinking. At any one time, they can drink up to 20 gallons of water, and they store it all in their bloodstream.
A Penn State researcher has been trying to get to the bottom of the age-old question of why giraffes have long necks. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please ...
The Reticulated giraffe is a herbivore feeding on leaves, shoots, and shrubs. Their up to 30 centimeter long blue tongue is used to strip the branches of acacia trees, their primary food source. [4] They spend most of their day feeding, roughly 13 hours/day, eating up to 34 kilograms of food per day. [12]
The number of giraffes has decreased by nearly 30% since the 1980s, per the Giraffe Conservation Foundation
The okapi's neck is long compared to most ruminants, but not nearly so long as the giraffe's. Male giraffes are the tallest of all mammals: their horns reach 5.5 m (18 ft) above the ground and their shoulder 3.3 m (11 ft), whereas the okapi has a shoulder height of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in). [9]