Fig. 159.—Giraffe. Giraffa camelopardalis. × 1⁄40.
Fam. 7. Giraffidae.—Undoubtedly the type of a distinct family, Giraffidae, is the genus Giraffa. It is characterised by
the long neck, which, nevertheless, consists of only the normal seven vertebrae, and by the "horns" which differ from those of all other Ruminants; they are small bony prominences of the frontal bones, which become fused with the skull, and which are covered with unmodified skin. They are not shed. Between them is a median prominence. This cranial armature is present in the female as well as in the male, and is well developed even in the
new-born young. The orbits are completely encircled by bone, and there is no lachrymal fossa, so common in Deer and Antelopes. There are no canines above; but these are present in the lower jaw. The rudimentary digits of other Ruminants have disappeared in this genus. There are fourteen pairs of ribs as in many other Artiodactyla. The liver of the Giraffe[[196]] is, as in many, but not all, Ruminants, devoid of a gall-bladder; neither has it a caudate or a Spigelian lobe. The caecum is actually largish (2½ feet in length), but is relatively very small, as the small and the large intestines measure 196 and 75 feet in length respectively. The Giraffe has a well-marked "ileo-caecal" gland, found in many Ruminants; its appearance in Giraffa is especially compared by Garrod with its appearance in Alces.
Considered by itself, Giraffa forms a very isolated type of Ruminant. But after we have dealt with certain facts concerning extinct forms clearly allied to Giraffa, the isolation of the family will be found to be less marked.
The Giraffe ("one who walks swiftly," the word means in Arabic) is, as every one knows, limited in its range to the African continent. It is not, however, so familiar a fact that there are two quite distinct species of Giraffe, one a northern form from Somaliland, and the other South African. The distinctness of these two, G. camelopardalis and G. australis, has been lately worked out in some detail by Mr. de Winton.[[197]] The principal point of difference between them consists in the large size of the median horn in the Cape species, which is represented by the merest excrescence in the other species. The Giraffe of West Africa is held to differ from the northern and southern species, coming nearer to the former. It appears in the first place to be a larger animal, and slight differences in the skull have been pointed out. This series of peculiarities may be expressed, for those who do not object to trinomial nomenclature, by calling this novel western form Giraffa camelopardalis peralta. The existence of the three horns covered with unaltered skin is the main characteristic of this Ungulate. But the Giraffe also differs from other Artiodactyles by its enormously long neck, which enables it to browse upon trees inaccessible to the common herd
of Ruminants. The neck is often supposed to have some relation to this method of feeding. But a more ingenious explanation of its inordinate length is that it serves as a watch-tower. The long grass of the districts inhabited by the animal swarms with Lions and Leopards, which must be foes. The long neck allows of a wide look out being kept, and it is noteworthy that the Ostrich, living under similar conditions, is also renowned for its length of neck. It is the spots upon the Giraffe which have given it its name of Cameleopard; these spots present in the southern form a series of chocolate-coloured areas, sharply marked off by white spaces. Of these spots it is asserted that they serve as a means of concealing their possessor. Sir Samuel Baker[[198]] wrote of it in the following words: "The red-barked mimosa, which is its favourite food, seldom grows higher than 14 or 15 feet. Many woods are almost entirely composed of these trees, upon the flat heads of which the giraffe can feed when looking downwards. I have frequently been mistaken when remarking some particular dead tree-stem at a distance that appeared like a decayed relic of the forest, until upon nearer approach I have been struck by the peculiar inclination of the trunk; suddenly it has started into movement and disappeared."
The Giraffe, remarked Pliny, "is as quiet as a sheep." The Roman public, to whom the first Giraffe ever brought into Europe was exhibited, expected from its name "to find in it a combination of the size of the camel and the ferocity of a panther." As a matter of fact, Giraffes in captivity are not always sheep-like in temper. They will kick with viciousness and vigour, and will even initiate an attack upon their keeper. At the same time they are singularly nervous creatures, and have been known to die from a shock. In moving, the Giraffe uses the fore- and hind-limb of each side simultaneously; this gives to its gait a peculiar rocking motion, the singularity of which is heightened by the curving movements of the long neck, which even describes now and then a figure of eight in the air. Giraffa camelopardalis and the species (?) already referred to are the only existing Giraffes (of the genus Giraffa), and they are not found out of Africa. Sir Harry Johnston has lately given a brief account of a larger and more brilliantly coloured species from Uganda
which will probably prove to belong to a distinct genus. It has five horns, the additional pair being placed above the ears.