Figure 3 in The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) cervical vertebral column: a heuristic example in understanding evolutionary processes?

Figure 3. Upper panel: the percentage contribution of the vertebral regions to the entire length of the vertebral column of giraffes aged from calf to adult (ages are estimates). In the calf, the cervical vertebrae occupy approximately 45% of the total vertebral length. As the animal matures, this increases to between 52 and 54%. Lower panel: the percentage contribution of the vertebral regions to the entire length of the vertebral column of the extant ungulates studied, compared with the adult giraffe. Note that only in the giraffes do the cervical vertebrae occupy more than half of the entire vertebral column. Key: c, cervical; l, lumbar; s, sacral; t, thoracic.Published as part of Badlangana, N. Ludo, Adams, Justin W. & Manger, Paul R., 2009, The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) cervical vertebral column: a heuristic example in understanding evolutionary processes?, pp. 736-757 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (3) on page 743, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00458.x, http://zenodo.org/record/544502