Animals With Similar Adaptations to Giraffes

African Elephant

• While Giraffes are the tallest land animals, the African elephant is also quite tall. Height at the shoulder is 8 to 13 feet. In pursuit of food, these elephants often use strong and flexible trunks to tear down large tree limbs. They eat tree bark and leaves. A giraffe also uses its height to graze on leaves. Other foods of the African elephant include herbs, grasses and fruit. Adult elephants eat up to 300 lbs. of food in a day.

Okapi

• The okapi is related to the giraffe, though it does not have the same height adaptation. It is only about 5 feet tall at the shoulders. It shares the long tongue of the giraffe, which it uses to grab leaves and for grooming. Like a giraffe, it is also a ruminant that can swallow plant food without chewing it. After this food is partially digested, the okapi regurgitates it to chew as cud before swallowing it again. This adaptation is useful for tougher leaf material.

American Bison

• The American bison is a ruminant like the giraffe and okapi. The bison feeds on grasses, sedges, lichen and berries. It has four stomach compartments called the reticulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum. In contrast to animals with less complex stomachs, ruminants can absorb nutrients in the stomach instead of in the intestines. Ruminant digestive adaptation enables them to derive more nutrients from low-quality plant sources. Symbiotic microorganisms in ruminant stomachs make the digestion process much more efficient.

Other Animals

• The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant, but still tall enough to feed on some trees. Other animals that have the giraffe's height advantage are ostriches and bears. Most bears can stand on their hind legs for short periods, allowing them to reach higher. Other ruminants include deer, cows, goats, sheep, elk and moose. Pseudo-ruminants with three stomach compartments include camels, alpacas and llamas.