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Flehmen, Osteophagia, and Other Behaviors of Giraffes (Giraffa giraffa angolensis): Vomeronasal Organ Adaptation

The size of adult male giraffes (Giraffa giraffa angolensis) far exceeds the size of the females. At the Namutoni waterholes in Etosha National Park, bulls were seen many times each day screening adult females for their pending sexual receptivity by provoking them to urinate; this mainly involved sniffing their genitalia. If the female accedes to the male’s invitation, she widens her hindleg stance, braces her body, and then urinates, usually for at least five seconds. The male places his muzzle

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Sociosexual behavior, male mating tactics, and the reproductive cycle of giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis

Female distribution exerts a major impact on male mating tactics. Giraffe cows have a reproductive cycle, and a social system, that should favor a male roaming reproductive tactic. We conducted a 2-year study of female Rothschild’s giraffe (G. c. rothschildi) reproductive endocrinology in order to characterize attributes of the reproductive cycle and investigate how female endocrine and behavioral cues influence mating activity. We used non-invasive fecal steroid methods to determine reproductive state among females residing in a herd in a

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