Animal Kingdom
laelaps | October 9, 2007
Even though the Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) most readily comes to mind when I think of a long-necked mammal, there are many other living artiodactyls that have long necks for their body size, one of my favorites being the Gerenuk, Litocranius walleri. Gerenuks are most commonly seen in East Africa and often stand up on their hind legs while browsing to make the most of the available food resources, allowing them a bit more reach than many of their antelope relatives. The picture above is of a male, taken in the summer of 2006 at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park, as horns are only…