Previously, when Kenya hosted the Open Golf Tournament, there was a very special group of "spectators", that is, giraffes. Judging from the ** taken at the scene, several curious giraffes watched near the site, and they also watched "with relish".
Maybe at this time, these giraffes are thinking, finally let us seize the opportunity to watch the "two-legged beast", when they were on the grassland ** when we breed, fight, and escape, they didn't care about the privacy of the "deer" at all, and this time they can finally "see" back.
But it's not for nothing that people look at giraffes, after all, not only do they stand out for their appearance, but they also have a very special breeding process and fighting style.
Humans love to look at giraffes with their protruding shapes.
So, just how peculiar is the breeding process of giraffes? If in danger, how fierce are giraffes to protect themselves?
Looking at today's giraffe, you may not be able to imagine what its ancestors looked like, because its ancestors did not have such a long neck. Judging by the evolutionary map of giraffes,It and other animals of the cervids and pronghorned antelopes belong to the Ruminant order and the suborder Horned.
The ancestors of giraffes did not have long necks.
It's just that this guy's appearance is too prominent, and its neck is several times longer than others, making it look very special among the horned suborders. Because of this, people have always been very curious about giraffes, not only how they "elongated" their necks, but also how they live and reproduce with such long necks.
Although giraffes have been treated as a single species for more than 200 years, they have been divided into multiple subspecies in order to better distinguish them.
In 2016, someone published a relevant ** on the classification of giraffes in Cur Rent Biology, pointing outGiraffes should be reclassified based on multiple loci of multi-gene sequence data.
Giraffes have been classified in a polygenic sequence.
In simple terms, it is classified into four species, which can be divided into:Northern giraffe, southern giraffe, reticulated giraffe and Maasai giraffe。These giraffes are distributed in different parts of Africa, and there are certain differences in their living environments. Of course, no matter what kind of giraffe, the living habits and breeding behavior are basically the same.
The location of the four species of giraffe is not the same.
In terms of living habits, they like to inhabit woods, grasslands or open woodlands, so they are very colorful. The main food is the twigs and leaves of trees, and occasionally shrubs or fruits. And,Some giraffes have also been observed licking the bones of dead animals, suggesting that they may not be absolute herbivores.
Giraffes prefer to live in groups, but often the sexes are separated, simply put, "men and women" are grouped separately, among themThe group of mothers and calves is more stable. Because of this, their reproduction process will also be more special.
Giraffes do not practice monogamy, and tend to be "capable of working hard", simply put, powerful males are often able to mate with multiple females, leaving their offspring. And although they do not have a fixed mating season, they only have an estrous cycle.
Giraffes do not have a set mating season, but they do have estrous cycles.
When they are in heat, the male giraffe begins their own courtship. As the "outstanding" representative of the group, the males also determine which female giraffe is better to mate, so they will approach the female first and touch the back of her body with their noses.
This behavior encourages the other person to urinate, as they will "taste the urine" to obtain information about the female, such as age, physical health, whether she is in heat, etc. According to the information,Giraffes have special vomeronasal apparatus that captures important information in their urine.
Giraffes' vomeronasal apparatus helps them get information from each other's urine.
If both partners do not resist and the male is satisfied, he will tap the female's hind legs with his front legs, or put his chin on the other's back to make "sexual innuendo". Many people think that the "giraffe boy" at this time is very humble, and his behavior of bowing his head is also quite flattering.
At this point, if the female giraffe agrees, it will circle the male twice and raise her tail in a mating position. The two sides will then start the breeding work. The whole process is still relatively harmonious, but the time is a bit long.
It should be noted thatWhat we are talking about here is that with the early trial and error in the early stage, the whole process is relatively long. When giraffes actually start mating, the time is actually very short, about a few seconds. In this process, the two parties will occasionally use the "neck" to communicate their feelings and stick to each other to enhance their feelings.
Giraffes use their necks to communicate feelings when mating.
In fact, the giraffe's neck can be very useful, not only for "friendly communication", but alsoPowerful Attack**.
First of all,To fight for the right to mate, male giraffes will fight。And when fighting, you will use your long neck. In the images of giraffes beating each other taken by many photographers, we can see two giraffes frantically "throwing their necks at each other".
If the shooting is close, you can even hear the sound of "Bang Bang" when the neck touches, which makes people worry about whether these guys will break each other's necks in the process of beating each other.
Giraffes are flaring each other's necks and fighting.
What's even more interesting is that sometimes both parties will press each other's necks down desperately, and there is a feeling of wanting to press each other's heads to the ground. If you feel that the time is ripe, some giraffes who don't speak of martial arts will suddenly stretch out their long legs and put them on each other's necks.
This kind of scene often makes people feelBoth would be a lose-lose situation, either one neck is crushed, or another performance is "split" on the spot.
They will also use their long legs to press each other's necks during fights.
Secondly,The long neck is also used to protect the offspring
Of course, it is often the responsibility of the mother giraffe to nurture and protect her offspring. Whenever a carnivore such as a lion approaches her and her cubs, the female giraffe will have the baby giraffe stand in an "empty spot" in front of her, allowing it to hide its body under herself, exposing only its head, and then start to "fight back".
Giraffe mothers will protect their cubs in their own way.
The main reason for this is that:I'm afraid that I accidentally injured my cub when I counterattackedAfter all, "fists and feet don't have long eyes". In the process of counterattacking, they will not only "slap a few times" of their more than 2-meter-long neck to break up the strategic layout of the surrounding lions, but also stretch out the same more than 2 meters when the lion tries to get close to repel the lion, so that the other party can feel how strong this "kick" is.
The deterrent power of giraffe legs makes lions afraid to come forward.
In general, giraffes are unusually ferocious when it comes to self-preservation and protection of their young. Its tall stature and the way it attacks often make predators afraid to approach. Sometimes the lion has the opportunity to jump on its back, but there is still nothing to do with it. Relying on this advantage, the giraffe's life is relatively comfortable.
Judging from the above, the long neck does bring a lot of benefits to the giraffe, but "there are pros and cons", and many times the long neck also makes them distressed.
The long neck also causes them a lot of troubles.
First of all,The neck is too long for the giraffe to run and has to take special measures to maintain its balance。This made him develop a "crutche" running style, throwing his neck while running, which looked very funny.
And secondly, it isThe long neck makes it difficult to drink waterAfter all, the water source is basically low, so they have to split their front legs and drink water. At this point, the lion has the opportunity to hunt it.
When drinking water, you must spread your front legs.
That last point may beThe inconvenience of "sleeping".When they sleep, they not only have to lie down, but also find a good position for their necks, and often bend back and place them on their buttocks. Because of this, many people are worried that the giraffe will "fall into the neck" because of this.