Giraffidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iGiraffidae
Fossil range: Miocene - Recent

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae Gray, 1821

Species

Okapia johnstoni
Giraffa camelopardalis

The biological family Giraffidae contains just two living members, the giraffe and the okapi. Both are confined to sub-saharan Africa: the giraffe to the open savannas, and the okapi to the dense rainforest of the Congo. The two species look very different on first sight, but share a number of common features, including a long, dark-coloured tongue, lobed canine teeth, and horns covered in skin.

The closest relatives of the Giraffidae are the other members of the suborder Ruminantia, which include cattle, goats, sheep, and antelope.

Fossil records indicate that they first appeared in the early middle Miocene.

ORDER ARTIODACTYLA
- Suborder Suina: pigs, hippos and peccaries
- Suborder Tylopoda: camels and llamas
- Suborder Ruminantia
  - Infraorder Tragulina
    - Family Tragulidae: chevrotains
  - Infraorder Pecora
    - Family Moschidae: musk deer
    - Family Cervidae: deer
    - Family Antilocapridae: Pronghorn
    - Family Bovidae: cattle, goats, sheep, and antelope
    - Family Giraffidae
      - Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis
      - †Giraffokeryx
      - †Helladotherium duvernoyi
      - Okapi, Okapia johnstoni
      - †Paleotragus
      - †Sivatherium
      - †Samotherium
      - (and many other genera)