Reticulated Giraffe Oakland Zoo 1 Editorial Image

Giraffes are the tallest living land based animals. The Reticulated Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata, are the ones most commonly found in zoos. They are also known as Somali Giraffe, for where they come from.Their trademark long necks better enable them to feed off the tops of trees without competition from other animals.It had long been thought giraffes have the same number of neck bones, vertebra, as other mammals, but new research suggest they might actually have one extra, eight vertebra.The things sticking out of their heads between the ears, are not horns but what is called ossicone, and is found on both male and female. It is because they have a skin covering that they are not considered as horns.