Gigantic Giraffe

August 15, 2016 3 Comments

Gigantic Giraffe

According to official Guinness world records... the tallest man in medical history was Robert Wadlow. When he was last measured in 1940, his height was recorded at 8 feet, 11 inches – almost 9 feet tall! But if this giant man had ever stood alongside an adult giraffe, he might have felt like a midget!

Did you know that male giraffes can be as tall as 18 feet? This is almost two times higher than the rim of a basketball hoop! In fact, a full-grown giraffe is so towering, he could look right into a second-story window – and without a step stool!

Have you ever wondered how blood can flow up that long, skinny neck against the force of gravity?

As hard as it is to imagine, it’s really no problem for the giraffe, because God designed him with a robust heart that’s over two feet long! This powerful pump is twice as strong as most animals, so it has no problem pushing sufficient amounts of blood to the giraffe’s brain.

But wait a minute. What happens when this long and lanky animal gets thirsty? Why didn’t the blood swoosh down the neck and blow up the giraffe’s brain the first time he bent over for a drink of water? Well, it’s important to keep in mind that God also created gravity. So He knew about the need to include design features in the giraffe’s neck that would prevent this explosion from happening. You see, our awesome Creator designed a spongy tissue in the base of this animal’s brain called a “wonder net” that catches most of the fast flowing blood. God also added a system of small, one-way valves throughout the long artery of the giraffe’s neck that open and close. When the giraffe is standing up, these valves are open. When he bends down, they all close so his head doesn’t burst open.

Giraffe Wonder Net

These valves also solve another problem for the giraffe. With lions as their main predators, there are situations where they have to quickly stand up and run like crazy! It’s a matter of life and death that they are able to escape quickly in the event of a swift attack. We might first assume that the gravity working against the giraffe’s blood flow would cause him to pass out every time he had to abruptly raise his head. While it might seem that way, the same valves that suddenly close when the giraffe bends down for water also rapidly open up when he raises his head.

All of the unique features of these gentle giants were wonderfully designed and fully functional from the time they were first created on Day 6 in chapter one of Genesis

If our all-powerful, all-knowing God hadn’t carefully designed the giraffe’s amazing body, his long legs and extended neck would have presented many other problems too. For example, the lower parts of the giraffe’s legs are always under extreme pressure because of gravity. So God created a very special skin in this area that is designed to tolerate this high blood pressure. The giraffe would have also had difficulty breathing since air has to travel down the throat of that long neck. But again, God gave the giraffe large lungs that can hold a lot of air, allowing the giraffe to breathe in and out very slowly.

All of the unique features of these gentle giants were wonderfully designed and fully functional from the time they were first created on Day 6 in chapter one of Genesis. And no man-made theory of evolution or billions of years were needed after “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:25).