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What the sources say

GiraffeGiraffa camelopardalis

Every figure, record and mechanism on the Giraffe profile was written from a source, and this is the working table behind it: 55 claims checked word for word against these sources. The left column is what the page says. The right column is the source's own words, copied, not paraphrased; a ... marks a cut and[brackets] an insertion. Open any source and check it yourself.

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Source
01

Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan

Giraffa camelopardalis. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

The page saysBulls can top eighteen feet
The source saysMale giraffes (bulls) stand a total of 5.7 m from the ground to their horns ... 15.42 to 18.70 ftNote: ADW's own imperial conversion: 5.7 m is 18.70 ft, the top of its range, which is the bulls' height to the horns. 'can top' keeps it to the tallest bulls rather than every giraffe.
The page saysDry savannas, grasslands, and acacia woodlands in sub-Saharan Africa
The source saysmainly found south of the Sahara ... Giraffes inhabits arid, dry land. They seek out areas enriched with Acacia growth. Giraffes are found in savannas, grasslands, or open woodlandsNote: 'in' rather than 'across': ADW says giraffes have disappeared from most of western Africa. ADW's 'mainly' concerns whether any range lies outside the region, which the page doesn't claim.
The page saysfrom a residual population in Niger to South Africa
The source saysa residual population in Niger ... reintroduced in South Africa to game reserves
The page saysMainly acacia leaves, plus seed pods and mimosa and apricot (Prunus armeniaca) foliage
The source saysGiraffes feed on leaves, flowers, seed pods, and fruits ... Acacia senegal, Mimosa pudica, Combretum micranthum, and Prunus armeniaca ... Their main food is the leaves from Acacia treesNote: ADW lists Mimosa pudica (mimosa) and Prunus armeniaca (apricot) among the browse species.
The page saysBulls stand up to 5.7 meters (about 18.7 feet) from hoof to horn tip
The source saysstand a total of 5.7 m from the ground to their horns ... 15.42 to 18.70 ft
The page sayscan weigh as much as 1,930 kilograms
The source saysBulls weigh up to 1,930 kg
The page sayscows run smaller, topping out around 1,180 kilograms
The source sayscows can weigh up to 1,180 kg
The page saysa neck built from just seven vertebrae
The source saysGiraffe necks contain 7 elongated vertebrae
The page saysA giraffe's prehensile tongue
The source saystheir 45 cm long black tongue grasps prickly foodNote: 'prehensile' means grasping: ADW's tongue 'grasps prickly food'. San Diego calls the lips prehensile.
The page sayschewing cud on the move
The source saysChewing cud while traveling helps to maximize their feeding opportunities
The page saysAdult giraffes are well able to defend themselves
The source saysAdult giraffes are well able to defend themselves
The page saysLions are their main predators
The source saysLions (Panthera leo) are the main predators of giraffes
The page saysleopards and hyenas also known to prey on giraffes, and crocodiles taking them at waterholes
The source saysleopards (Panthera pardus) and (hyenas Hyaena hyaena) have also been known to prey on giraffes ... Crocodiles may also prey on giraffes when they come to waterholes to drinkNote: ADW's 'may' is about where crocodiles strike; San Diego Zoo states flatly that 'only lions and crocodiles hunt them'.
The page saysmost of their predators target the young, sick, or elderly
The source saysMost predators of giraffes target young, sick, or elderly giraffes
The page sayswith its front hooves
The source saysdelivering deadly blows with their front hooves

Source
02

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Giraffe. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

The page saysroughly twenty-five-pound heart
The source saysweighs about 25 pounds (11 kilograms)
The page sayseighteen-inch tongue
The source says18-inch (46-centimeter) tongue
The page saysThe giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest land animal alive
The source saysGiraffes are the tallest land animals
The page saysA giraffe's life span is 15 to 20 years
The source saysLIFE SPAN 15 to 20 yearsNote: Replaces ADW's wild 10-15 and zoo 20-27: a duration needs a current source, and San Diego Zoo's current page gives 15 to 20 (docs/fact-check.md, 'Check the date').
The page sayseach of which can be over 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) long
The source sayseach one can be over 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) long
The page saysheart is about 0.6 meters (2 feet) long and weighs roughly 11 kilograms (25 pounds)
The source saysgiraffe's heart is 2 feet (0.6 meters) long and weighs about 25 pounds (11 kilograms)
The page sayswhen it drops to drink
The source saysgiraffes have to bend a long way down to drink from a lake or stream
The page saysAn 18-Inch Tongue and a 16-to-20-Hour Workday
The source saysspending 16 to 20 hours a day eating ... 18-inch (46-centimeter) tongueNote: Heading combines the tongue-length and daily-feeding-hours facts, each also claimed in the body.
The page saysruns up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) long
The source says18-inch (46-centimeter) tongue
The page saysworks alongside flexible lips to reach around a tree's long thorns
The source saysThese trees have long thorns ... They simply use their 18-inch (46-centimeter) tongue and prehensile lips to reach around the thorns
The page saysThe tongue's dark color is thought to work like sunscreen, protecting it from sunburn while it reaches for leaves
The source saysIt is thought that the dark color of their tongue protects them from getting sunburned while reaching for leaves
The page saysGiraffes spend 16 to 20 hours of each day eating
The source saysspending 16 to 20 hours a day eating
The page saystaking in up to 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of food
The source saysGiraffes may eat up to 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of food per day
The page saysbig enough that they don't need to hide from predators
The source saysGiraffes are so big that they really don't need to hide from predators
The page saysWhen it has to, a giraffe defends itself with a deadly kick delivered karate-style
The source saysIf they have to, giraffes defend themselves with a deadly kick, karate-style
The page saysa sprint clocked at a record 34.7 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour)
The source saysThe record running speed of a giraffe is 34.7 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour)
The page saysThe IUCN's own giraffe experts, its Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group, have concluded there are four species
The source saysIn a major reclassification, the International Union for the Conservation Nature’s Species Survival Commission’s Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group concluded that there are actually four distinct species of giraffes.Note: The page gives no date for the reclassification, so neither does the profile. The Red List still carries one assessment for Giraffa camelopardalis, so scientificName and the status line are unchanged.
The page saysthe northern, reticulated, Masai and southern giraffes
The source saysThe four found in the assessment are northern, reticulated, Masai, and southern
The page saysguitar vamps that sway side to side like a giraffe's pacing gait, which moves the front and back legs on one side forward together, then the two on the other side
The source saysGiraffes have a way of moving, or gait, in which both the front and back legs on one side move forward together, then the other two legs on the other side move forward.Note: vibe.reason. San Diego Zoo names it: 'It’s called "pacing."'
The page saysIt's thought that the dark color of a giraffe's 18-inch (46-centimeter) tongue works like sunscreen, protecting it from sunburn while it reaches for leaves
The source says18-inch (46-centimeter) tongue ... It is thought that the dark color of their tongue protects them from getting sunburned while reaching for leaves

Source
03

Muller et al. 2018

Muller et al. (2018). Giraffa camelopardalis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T9194A136266699.

The page saysThe IUCN Red List rates Giraffa camelopardalis as Vulnerable
The source saysIUCN Red List category: Vulnerable (VU). Giraffa camelopardalis (Linnaeus, 1758), IUCN taxon 9194

Source
04

Hargens et al. 1987

Hargens et al. (1987). Gravitational haemodynamics and oedema prevention in the giraffe. Nature.

The page saysheart built to fight gravity
The source saysadaptive mechanisms to orthostatic (gravitational) pressure changes ... arterial pressure near the giraffe heart is about twice that in humans, to provide more normal blood pressure and perfusion to the brain
The page saysarterial blood pressure near the heart roughly double a human's to fight gravity
The source saysarterial pressure near the giraffe heart is about twice that in humans, to provide more normal blood pressure and perfusion to the brain
The page saysarterial blood pressure near the heart that runs roughly double a human's
The source saysarterial pressure near the giraffe heart is about twice that in humans
The page saysa tight layer of skin and vessels that narrow ahead of the capillaries do similar work, keeping blood and fluid from pooling in the legs
The source sayshow giraffes avoid pooling of blood and tissue fluid (oedema) in dependent tissues of their extremities ... combined with a tight skin layer, move fluid upward against gravity. Other mechanisms that prevent oedema include precapillary vasoconstriction
The page saysArterial blood pressure near a giraffe's heart runs at roughly double a human's, the extra push needed to overcome gravity and keep blood reaching the brain
The source saysarterial pressure near the giraffe heart is about twice that in humans, to provide more normal blood pressure and perfusion to the brain

Source
05

Mitchell, Bobbitt & Devries 2008

Mitchell, Bobbitt & Devries (2008). Cerebral perfusion pressure in giraffe: Modelling the effects of head-raising and -lowering. Journal of Theoretical Biology.

The page saysA mechanical model suggests that a rise in the pressure pushing blood through the brain as the head swings back up may help stop it fainting
The source saysusing a mechanical model that functioned as an anatomical U-tube ... suggest that an increase in CPP plays a significant role in maintaining CBF during head-raising and that it may be an important mechanism for preventing fainting in giraffeNote: CPP, cerebral perfusion pressure, is the pressure driving blood through the brain (defined in the same abstract). The result is from a mechanical model, which the superpower now says.
The page saysA giraffe's head swings through a bigger change in height than any other animal's
The source saysThe positional change of the giraffe head between ground level and standing upright is the largest of all animals
The page saysit never faints doing it
The source saysyet loss of consciousness does not occurNote: 'never' paraphrases the source's own unhedged 'does not occur'.
The page sayscerebral perfusion pressure, the pressure driving blood through the brain
The source saysCBF is related to cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). CPP is the difference between mean arterial pressure (MAP) at the head and intracranial pressure (ICP)Note: Simplified for a young-reader definition of CPP.
The page saysfalls as the head moves from upright down to level, then partly recovers as it keeps tipping further down
The source saysCPP fell from approximately 170 to 45 mmHg, but increased to approximately 67 mmHg at 30 degrees "down" ... to approximately 75 at 60 degrees "down"Note: States only the direction of the trend (fall, then partial recovery); the source's 'approximately' qualifies numbers the page does not restate.
The page saysThe researchers suggest its rise as the head comes back up may be an important mechanism for keeping the giraffe from blacking out
The source sayssuggest that an increase in CPP plays a significant role in maintaining CBF during head-raising and that it may be an important mechanism for preventing fainting in giraffe
The page sayscerebral perfusion pressure, the pressure that drives blood through the brain, falls as the head moves from upright down to level, then partly recovers as it keeps tipping further toward the ground
The source saysCPP fell from approximately 170 to 45 mmHg, but increased to approximately 67 mmHg at 30 degrees "down" ... to approximately 75 at 60 degrees "down"Note: Same trend-only reading as the body's blockquote claim.
The page saysThe researchers suggest that its rise as the head comes back up may be an important mechanism for keeping a giraffe conscious through a head swing bigger than any other animal makes
The source saysThe positional change of the giraffe head between ground level and standing upright is the largest of all animals ... suggest that an increase in CPP plays a significant role in maintaining CBF during head-raising and that it may be an important mechanism for preventing fainting in giraffe

Source
06

Tobler & Schwierin 1996

Tobler & Schwierin (1996). Behavioural sleep in the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) in a zoological garden. Journal of Sleep Research.

The page saysA zoo study that filmed giraffes over 152 nights
The source saysBehavioural sleep was assessed for 152 nights in 5 adult, 2 immature and 1 juvenile giraffes at a zoological garden
The page saysfound they slept about 4.6 hours in every 24
The source saysThe 24‐h sleep profile had a main bimodal nocturnal sleep period ... Total sleep time (TST), excluding the juvenile, was 4.6 hNote: 'about' because the 4.6 h total excludes the one juvenile. Replaces San Diego Zoo's unsourced '5 to 30 minutes', which this measured study contradicts.
The page saysin short, broken bouts
The source saysSleep was fragmented, as indicated by the predominance of RS episodes lasting less than 11 min
The page sayssome of them standing up
The source saysSleep occurred while the giraffes were standing (SS) and in recumbency (RS)

Source
07

Brown et al. 2007

Brown et al. (2007). Extensive population genetic structure in the giraffe. BMC Biology.

The page saysa 2007 genetic survey found at least six distinct giraffe lineages across Africa with little evidence of interbreeding between them
The source sayswe show that there are at least six genealogically distinct lineages of giraffe in Africa, with little evidence of interbreeding between themNote: Year 2007 is the reference's publication year (Crossref, verified by audit:sources), not part of the sentence quoted.

Source
08

Fennessy et al. 2016

Fennessy et al. (2016). Multi-locus Analyses Reveal Four Giraffe Species Instead of One. Current Biology.

The page saysa 2016 study using multi-locus genetic data went further, arguing the differences are large enough that giraffes should be recognized as four separate species rather than one
The source saysTraditionally, one giraffe species ... have been recognized ... Coalescence-based multi-locus and population genetic analyses identify at least four separate and monophyletic clades, which should be recognized as four distinct giraffe species under the genetic isolation criterionNote: Year 2016 is the reference's publication year (Crossref, verified by audit:sources). 'rather than one' is the abstract's 'Traditionally, one giraffe species' and the paper's title, 'Four Giraffe Species Instead of One'.

How the table was made: a writer drafted the profile from these sources and logged each claim with its quote, a reviewer with nothing but this table checked every sentence said no more than its quote, and a script confirmed each quote appears word for word in the source. The method is in the site'sAbout page.