Giraffes use their patches to cool off! Around each patch there is large blood vessel that then branches off into smaller vessels underneath the patch. Giraffes can send blood through these small branches into the middle of the patch in order to release heat. Each patch thus acts as a thermal window to release body heat.
Spots make giraffes easy to spot in a zoo setting, but it works as a type of camouflage in the wild. They live mostly on African savannahs, full of tall grasses and trees that provide dappled shade. The random spots help them blend in with the moving shade patterns, making them more difficult for predators to identify.
While all giraffes are shades of cream and brown, the colors vary significantly by subspecies. For example, Masai giraffes are the darkest, with spots that appear almost black. The lighter color between the spots also is darker than that of other giraffes. Reticulated giraffes have dark brown spots with tiny lines in between — narrower lines than other subspecies. This creates a web-like effect, and it makes them appear darker than some other species. Angolan giraffes sometimes are described as “smokey” because they are so light in color. The cream lines between spots are darker than some other giraffes, making them a bit harder to distinguish from the spots. The color differences tend to reflect the color of the vegetation in the area the giraffes typically live.
Picture Credit : Google
