>Given the comparatively greater distance a nerve signal has to travel in the giraffe, Dr. More said, it’s possible the giraffe faces real challenges in reactin

>Given the comparatively greater distance a nerve signal has to travel in the giraffe, Dr. More said, it’s possible the giraffe faces real challenges in reacting quickly to events down under — a rock beneath its hoof, or a bite to its ankle. Why would this be any different in a giraffe vs an elephant? A quick googling tells me a giraffe is 5.5m tall whereas an elephant is 4m tall. Since an elephant is also longer than a giraffe the brain to rear hoof distance shouldn't really be all that different. A blue whale on the other hand is 30m long, so it seems like giraffes are well inside the normal design spec for large mammals.