Friday, May 14, 2010

How giraffes fight.


"Masai bachelor Giraffes Bo, 5, and Mac, 4, housed at the Racine, Wisconsin Zoo, engage in a necking duel on Friday, April 23, 2010. Giraffe necking is a type of sparring in which each giraffe swings its head or neck toward the other to demonstrate dominant behavior."

Etymology :
The species name camelopardalis (camelopard) is derived from its early Roman name, where it was described as having characteristics of both a camel and a leopard.[5] The English word camelopard first appeared in the 14th century and survived in common usage well into the 19th century. The Afrikaans language retained it. The Arabic word الزرافة ziraafa or zurapha, meaning "assemblage" (of animals), or just "tall", was used in English from the sixteenth century on, often in the Italianate form giraffa.

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