Giraffes have their differences too

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I wrote a post recently about a giraffe called Makulu. Giraffes are fascinating animals and I wrote several articles on them for Bubblews. I thought you might be interested in some facts about them so I’ve summarised the two articles. • Their heart weighs ten kilograms (22 lb) • They give birth standing up • There are eight subspecies, each with a particular coat pattern and colour • The tongues is long (45 cms or 17.7 inches), blue and muscular. They can clean out their nostrils or ears with their tongues. • To maintain blood supply to the brain, the blood pressure is double that of a large mammal. To prevent excess blood flow to the brain when drinking, valves in the jugular veins come into play. • Because of the gravitational weight of the body fluids, the lower legs are encased in a very tight sheath of thick skin which maintains high extra-vascular pressure. In the photo you can see some of the different coat patterns. To the best of my knowledge these are: Top left Masai giraffe with leaf-shaped patches. Courtesy Yoky CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons Top right: Reticulated giraffe Courtesy: Oceancetaceen Alice Chodura [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons Bottom left: Rothschild giraffe: © Hans Hillewaert / Bottom right: Rhodesian (Thornicroft) giraffe