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SHORT READ QUICK-QUIZ: How Many Neck Vertebrae in 3 Giraffes?
Here’s a clue, (maybe): A HUMAN HAS SEVEN NECK VERTEBRAE
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As a long-time biologist and life-member of The Royal Society of Biology, facts about animals have always fascinated me … no more so than the question in this article’s title:
* * * * * How Many Neck Vertebrae Are In This Photo of 3 Giraffes? * * * * *
I know, I know … the three giraffes in the photo are wooden carvings and therefore don’t have any vertebrae at all, but let’s get a bit real: If they were real giraffes, how many neck vertebrae would there be in the photo?
And yes, the ‘clue’ in the sub-title line does give you correct information:
Humans do indeed have seven neck vertebrae.
So, my question remains the same … How many vertebrae would there be in this photo of three giraffes (if they were real giraffes)?
(and no ‘google-cheating’ please … stop it! … stop it now!!)
Whilst you are thinking … here’s some ‘giraffe neck info’:
The neck of a giraffe can be eight feet (2.5+ metres) long.|
The long neck of the giraffe allows it to eat leaves high in the trees. This decreases food competition between them and other plant-eating animals, giving them a meal-advantage over other herbivores like antelopes, gnus, zebra’s and the like, who can only feed on low-growing vegetation like grasses and low-shrubs.
The giraffe’s long necks also helps it to spot distant predators … another advantage. And because of this unique vantage point, other grassland prey species will often look to giraffes for signs of oncoming danger.
Male giraffes will use their long necks to compete with other males. They do this by swinging their necks against each other in a behavior called ‘necking’ ... Now I bet you haven’t heard that word in that context!
