Some uterine parameters in antelopes and a giraffe
Uteri of 69 African antelopes and a giraffe were morphologically examined and numbers of caruncles and their rows in each horn were recorded. Antelopes of subfamilies Taurotraginae, Aepycerotinae, Antilopinae, and Alcelaphinae had about 50 to 100 caruncles arranged in four rows in each uterine horn. Hippotraginae had about 100 to 200 caruncles in six to […]
Development of the Giraffe Horn and Its Blood Supply
The giraffe horn is an unusual cranial exostosis that lacks clear delineation and categorization as either horn or antler. The distinction between the two is made by contrasting their methods of development and basic composition. This process of development has not been detailed in the giraffe, a factor contributing to the difficulty in distinguishing the […]
Anatomy of the Mouth of the Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi)
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is both the largest extant ruminant and a strict browser. We dissect and describe the macroscopic anatomy of the mouth of the giraffe. The heads of two adult giraffes and one fetus were used in this study. The lips were well developed, the upper one was predominant and dorsally flattened near […]
The structure and function of giraffe jugular vein valves
When a giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) lowers its head to drink, blood could enter the jugular vein from the inferior vena cava or regurgitate from the jugular veins into the cranial veins. We investigated the anatomy of jugular valves in giraffes to establish if they could prevent either of these regurgitations. Jugular vein length and intervalve […]
Gaits in mammals
In recent years there has been a great deal of published work on movements of various mammals, in particular, studies on the bone morphology and range of movements of joints, the muscle structure and places of muscle attachment, the physiology of muscle performance, the peculiarities of species as mechanical systems and the specific leg movements […]
Ovarian and placental morphology and endocrine functions in the pregnant giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Gross, histological and immunocytochemical examinations carried out on maternal and fetal reproductive tissues from two pregnant giraffes at an estimated 8 and 13.5 months of gestation (term=15 months) revealed a typically ruminant macrocotyledonary placenta with binucleate trophoblast cells scattered sparsely in the placentome where they stained intensely with a prolactin antiserum. Binucleate cells were present […]
Orbit orientation and eye morphometrics in giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Giraffe are thought to have excellent vision. We measured eye size, orbit orientation and retina surface area in 27 giraffes of both sexes ranging in age from neonates to mature adults (>10 yrs), to assess how it changes with growth, whether their eye anatomy correlates with their apparently excellent vision and lifestyle, and we have […]
The calcium and phosphorus content of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and buffalo (Syncerus caffer) skeletons
Osteophagia, variable serum calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) concentration, high serum alkaline phosphatase activity, a high growth rate, and a large skeletal mass, all suggest that Ca and P requirements and availability are finely balanced in giraffes. The mineral content of some marker bones in skeletons obtained from adult male giraffes (browsers) and adult male […]
A Comparative Assessment of the Size of the Frontal Air Sinus in the Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
The current study examines the frontal air sinus of the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) cranium with the aim of evaluating previously offered hypotheses as to why they have such an atypically voluminous frontal sinus relative to other artiodactyls. To date, no quantification of the frontal sinus in the adult or developing giraffe has been undertaken or […]
Structural evidence for insertion of collagen fibers to smooth muscle cells in the carotid arterial system of the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Previous anatomical studies have failed to resolve the question relating to whether or not collagen fibers, like elastic fibers, are attached to smooth muscle cells in the arterial wall. The current ultrastructural study demonstrates the insertion of collagen fibers to the sacrolemmal dark areas in the smooth muscle cells of the carotid arterial system of […]