Mondo Knows Facts
The giraffe is the tallest living terrestrial animal on the planet
Extensive leg and neck lengths allow adults to reach heights over five metres
Adult giraffes can reach overall heights of nearly six metres, allowing them to browse foliage high up in acacia trees. Their long necks contain seven cervical vertebrae, the same number found in most other mammals, but each vertebra is greatly elongated. Specialised blood vessels prevent dizziness when they lower their heads.
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Tags: giraffe, africa, mammal
The giraffe is the tallest living terrestrial animal on the planet: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Extensive leg and neck lengths allow adults to reach heights over five metres. The figure is taken from Smithsonian, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a records & extremes fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.