/https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/32/f2/32f24473-b380-43f5-94df-da0e58644439/16301090250_acf80be87f_o.jpg)
The giraffe is the tallest of all living animals. The strange shape and build of the giraffe is perpectly suited to enable it to obtain its food. A giraffe only eats plants, so its great height enables it to reach the leaves on trees which grow in tropical lands where there is little grass. A giraffe tongue can be 18 inches (46cm) long and it uses it so skillfully that it can pick the smallest leaves off thorny plants without being pricked. It also has long upper lip which helps it wrench off many leaves at a time. If a giraffe wants to take a drink from the ground, it has to adopt a peculiar stance by spreading its legs far apart in order to be able to reach down.
FACT FILE
The elephant is also an unusual animal because of its very long trunk. It is an extention of the nose and upper lip and serves the elephant as hand arm, nose and lips all at once.
resources: Tell me why (Chancellor Press)
image 1: https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/32/f2/32f24473-b380-43f5-94df-da0e58644439/16301090250_acf80be87f_o.jpg
image 2: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/African_elephant_warning_raised_trunk.jpg
