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The Brain of the Giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis): Surface Configuration, Encephalization Quotient, and Analysis of the Existing Literature

The anatomy of the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis Linnaeus, 1758) has been poorly studied, except for the circulatory system. In particular, only a handful of studies have concerned the brain of this species since the first description in 1839. Accordingly, only a very few articles discussing encephalization mentioned the giraffe or used it in their calculations. In this article, we performed a thorough examination of the literature including old and grey, regarding the central nervous system of the giraffe. Furthermore, we

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The Remarkable Cardiovascular System of Giraffes

Gravity affects the physiology of many animals, and the effect is, for good reason, most pronounced in tall species. The physiology—in particular, cardiovascular function—of giraffes has therefore captivated the interest of physiologists for centuries. Several studies document high mean arterial blood pressure of giraffes of about 200 mm Hg. This appears necessary to establish a cerebral perfusion pressure on the order of 100mmHg at the cranial end of the carotid arteries. Here, we discuss the unique characteristics of blood vessels,

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Subependymal glioneuronal hamartoma in the mesencephalic aqueduct of a giraffe

A 1-day-old male giraffe calf (Giraffa camelopardalis) was submitted for necropsy examination after sustaining postnatal head trauma from the cow. In addition to the expected findings of severe cerebral edema and epidural and subarachnoid hemorrhage, there also was present an incidental finding of a subependymal glioneuronal aqueductal hamartoma. Reports of this type of congenital lesion are rare in the human literature, and the lesion has not, to the authors’ knowledge, previously been reported in this or any other veterinary species.

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