GIRAFFE
Fully grown giraffes stand 4.3–5.7 m (14.1–18.7 ft) tall, with males taller than females. The tallest recorded male was 5.88 m (19.3 ft) and the tallest recorded female was 5.17 m (17.0 ft) tall. The average weight is 1,192 kg (2,628 lb) for an adult male and 828 kg (1,825 lb) for an adult female with maximum weights of 1,930 kg (4,250 lb) and 1,180 kg (2,600 lb) having been recorded for males and females, respectively. Despite its long neck and legs, the giraffe's body is relatively short.Located at both sides of the head, the giraffe's large, bulging eyes give it good all-round vision from its great height. Giraffes see in color and their senses of hearing and smell are also sharp.The animal can close its muscular nostrils to protect against sandstorms and ants.
The giraffe's prehensile tongue is about 45 cm long. It is purplish-black in color, perhaps to protect against sunburn, and is useful for grasping foliage, as well as for grooming and cleaning the animal's nose. The upper lip of the giraffe is also prehensile and useful when foraging and is covered in hair to protect against thorns. The tongue, and inside of the mouth are covered in papillae.
The coat has dark blotches or patches (which can be orange, chestnut, brown, or nearly black in color) separated by light hair (usually white or cream in color). Male giraffes become darker as they age. The coat pattern has been claimed to serve as camouflage in the light and shade patterns of Savannah woodlands. While adult giraffes standing among trees and bushes are hard to see at even a few meters' distance, they actively move into the open to gain the best view of an approaching predator, obviating any benefit that camouflage might bring. Instead, the adults rely on their size and ability to defend themselves. However, camouflage appears to be important for calves, which spend a large part of the day in hiding, away from their mothers; further, over half of all calves die within a year, so depredation is certainly important. It appears, therefore, that the spotted coat of the giraffe functions as camouflage for the young, while adults simply inherit this coloration as a by-product.The skin underneath the dark areas may serve as windows for regularization, being sites for complex blood vessel systems and large sweat glands. Each individual giraffe has a unique coat pattern.
The skin of a giraffe is mostly gray. Its thickness allows the animal to run through thorn bush without being punctured. The fur may serve as a chemical defense, as its parasite repellents give the animal a characteristic scent. At least 11 main aromatic chemicals are in the fur, although insole and 3-methodology are responsible for most of the smell. Because the males have a stronger odor than the females, the odor may also have sexual function. Along the animal's neck is a mane made of short, erect hairs. The one-meter (3.3-ft) tail ends in a long, dark tuft of hair and is used as a defense against insects.
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