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Project Noah Nature School
Giraffa camelopardalis
Approximately 7 month old giraffe.
Grazing on some trees in the subtropical Kruger National Park.
Most mammals where accompanied by a 7 to 5 month old baby! I was a great experience to see the babies coming into their own.
Spotted on Mar 22, 2014
Submitted on Apr 6, 2014
3 Comments
interesting! Thanks ;)
Hi Hema, they are horn like. Herewith a snippet from Wikipedia on the subject - most interesting! Both sexes have prominent horn-like structures called ossicones, which are formed from ossified cartilage, covered in skin and fused to the skull at the parietal bones. Being vascularized, the ossicones may have a role in thermoregulation, and are also used in combat between males. Appearance is a reliable guide to the sex or age of a giraffe: the ossicones of females and young are thin and display tufts of hair on top, whereas those of adult males end in knobs and tend to be bald on top
Are those horns?