The Giraffe and The Redwood: The tallest animal vs the tallest tree

The Giraffe

Giraffe’s are the tallest and grandest land animals on the planet. Always easy to spot and centre of attention, this mammal is a gentle giant. They spend their time grazing on tree tops and their diet consists of strictly vegetation only. They have a specific adaptation that allows them to successfully feed and get the food that most animals would struggle to reach, if you haven’t already guessed it’s their long slender neck that facilitates the feeding process.

The neck is a very interesting and important part of the giraffe’s anatomy. From the outside as stated above it definitely aids them when they are reaching for food from the tallest of tree’s, but I want to look beyond the physical functions and go skin deep to look at their distinctive circulatory system and how this works to keep them alive.

There are many fascinating parts of circulatory system of the giraffe, that all work together like a well-oiled machine to keep their blood flowing and heart ticking away.

Talking about their heart did you know that their heart is one of the most powerful mammal hearts and weighs on average around 24 pounds.

Their heart is very powerful muscle that pumps a large amount of blood against the force of gravity. The blood circulates up their neck to their brain and all around their body; giraffe’s have very high blood pressure to aid this process. Also, they have very thick and tight skin around the bottoms of their legs that act as a compression aid which helps move the blood back up to the top of the animal again. Finally, they have special valve in their neck near their brain that helps stop a large flow of blood going to the brain when the giraffe lowers its head and neck to drink water or graze on the food below.

The Redwood Tree

Redwood trees are the tallest trees known to man and definitely reach for the stars with sky-high heights of more than 300 feet; the highest recorded redwood tree is an astonishing 379.7 feet and can reach to the age of 2,000 years.

Like the Giraffe they certainly tower over the rest and have many advantages that aid their growth and survival. This species of tree is known as a gymnosperm which means it possesses a simple transport system in its core.

Their transport system has similar challenges to the giraffe’s circulatory system, as it’s having to constantly battle against the force of gravity to transport nutrients and water. One of the ways they gain their water source is from fog. The fog is absorbed by the tree’s needles at the top of the tree, which then shed to the ground and provide a water source for the plant life below. The fog results in around 40% of the Redwoods water intake.

Plants that are taller are known to have smaller leaves in which they can store more water, they also have larger roots for stability and large transport cells that aid the process of transporting nutrients throughout the plant; this process takes place in a part of the tree called the Xylem. Also, the Stomata which are tiny pores in the leaves that help the water leave and evaporate the plant, are the main driving force for pulling the water up from the roots right to the top of the tree to the leaves.

My thoughts…

Both systems in the Giraffe and the Redwood tree have many similarities because they face the same daily challenges within their life. It’s a very impressive topic and especially when compared as they are worlds apart in many ways.