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What are the antenna things on giraffes?
Giraffe ‘horns’ are not actually called horns, but ‘ossicones’ and both female and male giraffe have them. Ossicones are formed from ossified (hardened into bone) cartilage and are covered in skin.
Why do giraffes have the antenna things?
Giraffe ‘horns’ are not actually called horns but ‘ossicones’ and both female and male giraffe have them. They add extra weight to the head of male giraffe, which often increases with age, enabling them to deliver ever heavier blows during their necking contests.
What are those things on giraffes heads?
Both male and female giraffes have two distinct, hair-covered horns called ossicones. Male giraffes use their horns to sometimes fight with other males. Giraffes only need 5 to 30 minutes of sleep in a 24-hour period!
Why do giraffes have horns?
Function. Similar to species that possess horns or antlers, male giraffes use their ossicones as a weapon during combat where they use their heads as clubs with the ossicones concentrating the force of impact onto a small area. Ossicones also add weight to the animal’s head, allowing it to deliver heavier blows.
What is a male and female giraffe called?
How are they recognised? Giraffes are the world’s tallest land mammal. Males (called bulls) grow up to 5,3 m and weight 1.200 kg on average. Females (called cows) are smaller, they grow up to 4,3 m and weight 830 kg on average.
Why do giraffes have ossicones?
Both male and female giraffes have horn-like knobs on top of their heads called ossicones. Made from ossified cartilage and covered with skin, ossicones are thought to help giraffes to regulate their body temperature and are also used in combat between males.
Do all giraffes have horns?
Both male and female giraffes have horns. Females’ horns are thinner with dense hair, while males’ horns are thicker with hair smoothed from sparring with other males. A male may grow a second pair of horns behind the first pair.
Do female giraffes have horns?
Giraffe horns are not actually called horns but ossicones and both female and male giraffe have them. Ossicones are formed from ossified cartilage and are covered in skin. Giraffe are born with their ossicones, however, they lie flat and are not attached to the skull to avoid injury at birth.
A best guess is that the giraffe’s “horns” were originally support structures for their antlers — sockets that supported the large racks which deer find so handy during mating season in their tests of strength and dominance. To speculate a bit, as giraffes grew taller, and their necks thinner,…