Male okapi possess ossicones, a pair of supraorbital, hair-covered frontal horns that can grow up to 15 cm in length and incline posteriodorsally from the skull.
Category: FaunaFacts
FaunaFocus releases a new FaunaFact every single day! These bite-sized bits of information are interesting facts paired with a unique image of that animal.
Okapi
The okapi is the only species of forest ungulate to depend on understory foliage and feeds on more than 100 species of vegetation, many of which are poisonous to humans.
Okapi
There is sexual dimorphism in the okapi as females are taller and slightly more red than males, have smaller home ranges, and lack the frontal horns that males possess.
Okapi
The okapi differs from its nearest extant relative, the giraffe, in habitat, size, proportion, coloration, vocalizations, and other distinguishable features.
Okapi
Okapi were previously thought to be nocturnal, but are now considered diurnal with 30-50% of their day spent resting, and foraging occurring in the mid-morning or late afternoon.
Okapi
Okapi are limited to closed, high canopy forests and dense rainforests and frequent river banks and stream beds.
Okapi
The okapi has a striking visual appearance and unique color pattern that allows it to disappear into the background of dense vegetation and rotting leaves where it lives.
Okapi
Okapis are endemic to the tropical rainforests of northeastern Zaire and are generally limited to altitudes between 450 and 1,000 meters.
Okapi
In the wild, okapi are mainly solitary and occur alone or in mother-offspring pairs, usually only coming together for mating.
Okapi
The okapi is a medium-sized giraffid resembling a horse and averaging 2.5 m long, 1.5 m tall at the shoulder, and 250 kg.
Okapi
Although the okapi falls under the Giraffidae family and is related to the giraffe, some researchers debate it's a closer relative to the nilgai antelope in the Bovidae family.
Okapi
The okapi has larger, more flexible ears and a relatively longer neck than other ruminants, perhaps correlated with locomotor coordination of the giraffid pacing gait.
Okapi
The brachyodont teeth of okapi are like other paleotragines, but it has smaller incisors and larger cheek teeth.
Okapi
The okapi's scientific name, Okapia johnstoni, is a combination of the pygmy word, O'Api and a tribute to the okapi's 1901 western discoverer, Sir Harry Johnston.
Beluga Whale
Female beluga whales become sexually mature before males, at 4-7 years, and reproduce every 2-3 years until about 20 years of age.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whale calves are able to swim alongside their mothers from birth but are totally dependent on them for the first year of life.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales have a loose, fatty region on top of their head, called a melon, that is critical for echolocation.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales deliver their offspring in river mouths because the waters are warmer for their calves that lack fully developed blubber.
Beluga Whale
Male beluga whales live longer than females at about 40 years compared to 32 years and belugas in captivity live longer than those in the wild.
Beluga Whale
Only 5-10% of a beluga whale's time is spent at the surface of the water and they are rarely seen breaching.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales are among the most vocal species of cetaceans and use their vocalizations for echolocation, mating, and communication.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales have the most varied diet of any small whale feeding on over 100 species of fish and invertebrates, and their diet changes depending on season, location, and water temperature.
Beluga Whale
Predation from killer whales, polar bears, and humans, as well as ice entrapment, are common causes of premature death of beluga whales.
Beluga Whale
Humans used to hunt beluga whales for skin, food, and oil, but now look to them for ecotourism and entertainment.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales have a very acute hearing, especially at higher frequencies, and can hear as well at 300m underwater as they can above water.
Beluga Whale
Unlike other cetaceans that continuously replace skin, beluga whales undergo an annual epidermal molt and rub in estuaries to remove old skin and become more hydrodynamic.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales are the only whales capable of shaping their tongue and lips, a skill which they use to capture prey by suction and swallow it whole.
Beluga Whale
The beluga whale has skin 10-100x thicker than other animals, and 50% of its body weight is made up of blubber in order to keep it warm in the freezing waters of the Arctic.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales have good vision, both, above and below the water, but most likely do not see much color, if any at all.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales mate from February-April and swim in harmony during courtship with the female swimming underneath the male, belly to belly.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales have unihemispheric brain waves when they sleep, meaning that one hemisphere of the cerebrum is always active allowing for surfacing to breath.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales are sexually dimorphic, with the males being slightly larger than the females.
Beluga Whale
The beluga whale is listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List, and current populations are estimated at 60,000-100,000.