THE CHEETAH

The cheetahs shoulder isnt in a socket like ours, it is held by a series of strong muscles. This, along with a very flexible skeleton, gives the cheetahs legs a wider range of motion, making the cheetahs stride much longer (up to 23 feet) and helping it move faster. Their spine acts like a giant spring, that can release energy in explosive surges. The cheetah's enlarged heart, lungs, and liver all help to deliver the bursts of oxygen and energy the cheetah needs to catch its prey.

The most recognizable feature of the porcupine is its quills. A porcupine may have as many as 30,000 quills. The quills are hairs with barbed tips on the ends. Quills are solid at the tip and base and hollow for most of the shaft. The porcupine has quills on all parts of its body, except for its stomach. The longest quills are on its rump. The shortest quills are on its cheeks. The porcupine uses its quills for defense. The porcupine cannot shoot its quills. When a predator approaches, the porcupine will turn its back, raise the quills and lash out at the threat with its tail. If the porcupine hits an animal with its quills, the quills become embedded in the animal. Body heat makes the barbs expand and they become even more deeply embedded in the animal's skin. If an animal is hit in a vital place it may die. The porcupine is not an aggressive animal. It will only attack if it is threatened.

Like most mammals, the giraffe has seven vertebrae in its neck. The vertebrae are greatly elongated and the neck muscles are highly developed to support the giraffes long neck. Ball and socket joints give the giraffe flexibility. Because the giraffes heart is so far from its head, its

vascular system is equipped with unusually elastic blood vessels and special valves to make sure that sufficient blood reaches the giraffes brain. This helps offset the sudden buildup of blood when the head is raised, lowered or swung quickly. Otherwise the giraffe might pass out. This long neck allows the giraffe to reach high into acacia trees. The leaves of the thorny acacia tree are the giraffes main food source. They also eat other leaves, twigs and acacia bark. The giraffe is a ruminant and has a stomach with four compartments that digests the leaves it eats. When giraffes aren't eating, they are chewing their cud. After they swallow the leaves the first time, a ball of leaves will travel all the way back up the throat into the mouth for more grinding.

Its long, prehensile tongue (up to 21 inches long) and its muscular upper lip are used to rip the leaves from the branches. They also have thick, sticky saliva that coats any thorns they might swallow. It is thought that the dark color of their tongues protect them from getting sunburned while reaching for leaves on trees. Because giraffes get their food and most of their moisture from the acacia leaves, they can go for over a month without drinking, They also do not have to migrate during the dry seasons. The few times they do drink, they must spread their long forelegs widely to reach the water. This makes them vulnerable to attack. For this same reason giraffes rarely graze grass and usually sleep standing up. .