The Design of the Giraffe

Genesis 1:25
“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

Giraffes are among the most extraordinary of God’s creatures. Whenever I see a giraffe in a zoo or on the television – I have not had the privilege of traveling to the Serengeti – I am constantly amazed that anyone could think these amazing animals evolved by blind chance.

The human neck contains seven vertebrae. One would assume that the giraffe neck would have more because of its great length, but it does not. It has seven highly elongated neck vertebrae, but, unlike our neck vertebrae, those of the giraffe are linked by a ball-and-socket arrangement.

There are occasions when a giraffe needs to lower its neck to the ground. One example of this would be when a giraffe stoops to drink, spreading its front legs out. If I have to bend my head low, I get a bit dizzy, but for a giraffe, the force of gravity and the high pressure behind the blood should be enough to blow out the vessels in the creature’s eyes and brain. However, the giraffe’s arteries have a huge network of smaller vessels into which the blood can be shunted, protecting its brain while maintaining enough supply for when the giraffe suddenly raises its head without fainting. An animal with a long neck, but without these shunts, would die every time it drank. Yet, an animal with a short neck would have no need for these complex mechanisms. The giraffe was designed for exactly the purpose God intended for it.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You care even about the animals You have made. So, how much more do You care about us! Amen.

Author: Paul F. Taylor

Ref: Pitman, D, Giraffes, Creation 33(4):28–31, October 2011.

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