There are a huge variety of animals and birds in the world. Some people treat them with indifference, others are touched even by animals that pose a danger to life. Understandable love for such pets as cats and dogs. These are tamed "keepers" of the hearth since ancient times. And it would seem that in the wild world, animals live some kind of life of their own, not fully explored even by zoologists. But without human intervention, it could not have done. There are many animals in zoos that are already accustomed to living next to people. And how many representatives of the wild nature perform in circuses! These include elephants, hippos, lions, tigers, snakes, monkeys and crocodiles.
That is, a person has learned not only to keep wild animals in cages and feed, but also to understand, love and train. Just imagine how difficult it is to convince a wild animal that you are not an enemy to him, and even teach him to perform various tricks…
All animals needed
The necessity of certain animals for nature is obvious. The extinction of one of the species leads to violations of the ecologicalbalance. Each animal has its own role in nature. A lion, in order to feed his cubs, hunts for a zebra, hawks catch small birds, foxes and wolves eat dead hares so as not to turn forest areas into animal cemeteries, and a person consumes certain animals for food. In this cycle, as a rule, the strongest survive. But not always the lion will overtake the antelope. She will subsequently give new offspring. The links of this chain never break, and the genotype of the strongest only becomes more perfect.
A person throughout his life can ask different questions about birds and animals. For example, which animal is the oldest, the funniest, the most evil or kind, the smartest, and so on. And this article will allow you to find out which animal and which bird has the longest neck.
Crane
Crane is a graceful bird. It has a fairly long thin neck. Height - 1.25 m. Body weight varies between 4.5-5.5 kg. The wingspan is about 2 m. The body is elongated. Crane pairs, like swans, are monogamous.
Pink Flamingo
Flamingo is a pink bird with a long neck. One of the most beautiful on the planet. Her nature rewarded her with an incredible color, which can be pale pink, white-pink, pink-lilac, pink-peach and even fiery red. In ancient times, people considered it a magical bird.
And whoever watched the simultaneous takeoff of a flock of flamingos will never forget this amazing sight. The body length of the pink flamingo reaches 1.5meters, weight - up to 5 kg. This fabulous bird is the only one in nature with the longest legs and the longest neck. Naturally, these criteria are those for the body of a flamingo.
Such a long neck allows the bird to submerge its head under the water as deep as possible. So she gets her food in the form of fish.
Swan with a long neck
Swan is an elegant bird of rare beauty, symbolizing tenderness, fidelity and love. No wonder there is the concept of "swan fidelity." Such a species as trumpeters live for thirty or forty years, having only one partner. And if it is a pond, then other individuals are not allowed there. Despite the outward calm and proud appearance, these are quite aggressive animals. In addition to trumpeters, there are species such as mute swan, tundra swan, whooper swan, black swan, lesser swan, American swan.
Swans are the largest waterfowl, weighing an average of nine kilograms. Compared to other representatives of the duck breed, the swan has the longest neck. And what kind exactly? It turns out that the black has the longest neck. Legs are short, waddle. On the ground, this long-necked swan spends little time. Mainly lives on water.
Ostrich
The ostrich is the largest bird. Its height is 2-2.5 m. Weight - 60-75 kg. And the weight of an adult male can reach 120 kg. It has powerful legs and a long neck. At the same time, this bird has a small head.
Long neck is not only forbirds, but also animals
The length of the neck in birds depends on the number of vertebrae. Their number ranges from 9 to 25. It is not in vain that nature gave long necks to some species. For example, swans cannot dive like ducks. Therefore, in search of food, leaving the body on the surface, they dip their head under water. And thanks to the long neck they reach the bottom (of course, we are not talking about deep water bodies). There they get their food. There are several other species of birds with a long neck, but the pink flamingo still ranks first.
Let's now look at some animals. Which one has the longest neck?
The dinosaur is the oldest. This is the most famous extinct order of reptiles that have lived on Earth for 150 million years. Scientists have identified dozens of species of these animals - utahraptors, sinornithosaurs, yanhunosaurus, scutellosaurus, triceratops and many others. Herbivorous dinosaurs had long legs and necks.
Brachiosaurus
Before the advent of Diplodocus and Argentinosaurs, the Brachiosaurus was unique in its kind. This is a dinosaur with a long neck. Its body could be up to 30 meters long and 14 meters high.
Body weight - an average of forty tons. The small head was located on the neck, which was approximately eight to nine meters long.
Giraffatian
The remains of this type of dinosaur found in Africa. The length of his neck was ten to twelve meters. Height - about thirteen meters. The weight of this individual reaches 31 tons. Giraffatian's shoulders are at the level of six meters.
Mamenchisaurus
Mamenchisaurus is a dinosaur with a long neck. He lived in the territories of modern China.
This is the longest animal of the Jurassic period - its body reached 23 m in length. Height - sixteen meters. Weight - 25 tons. Of modern living creatures, only the blue whale can be compared with the mamenchisaurus in terms of weight. Among all his brethren, he held the record for neck length (sixteen meters!). This external feature gave the animal an advantage over other sauropods in the search for food. Mamenchisaurus could reach the tops of even very tall trees.
Giraffe height, neck length, species description
His short body, small head, medium-sized movable ears and "horns" on the forehead. Such growths have a scientific name - "ossicons". Already with them a giraffe is born. The life expectancy of an individual is about thirty years. This animal is the owner of long legs. The height of the giraffe is 6-7 meters. Since the head is at a height of two to three meters from the heart, the latter is forced to do hard work, supplying blood to the neck, the length of which reaches 2-3 m.
It is a misconception that the giraffe has such a long neck because of the large number of cervical vertebrae. Like all mammals, he has seven of them. It's just that in this animal they are quite large. And, for example, in small rodents they are tiny in size.
To the question "Why does a giraffe have a long neck?" the answer is simple enough. Viawith such a long part of the body, the animal plucks leaves from the tops of trees. Herbivores such as antelopes or zebras pluck leaves from the lower branches, and it is inconvenient for a giraffe to eat grass. It remains to get food at a height where, by the way, there are never competitors.
We figured out why the giraffe has a long neck. What else is remarkable about this animal? The giraffe has a rather long tongue - about half a meter. Thanks to him, the animal easily plucks young shoots from the tops of trees, which are a real delicacy for him. The tongue is a powerful muscle in this individual.
Long legs sometimes cause inconvenience to the giraffe. For example, when he comes to a watering place, he is forced to widen the front ones and pull his head to the surface of the water. Often a giraffe is forced to bend its legs.
These animals with a long neck can reach speeds of up to 55 km per hour. The neck is responsible for the intensity of movements.
Small conclusion
Summing up, we can say with full confidence that at present the owners of the longest neck among birds are pink flamingos, and among animals - giraffes.
