How many bones are in a giraffe's neck?
The answer is a number you know quite well.A giraffe has 7 neck bones, the same number as a human. Its neck is long not because it has more bones, but because each bone is long, up to about 25 cm. In fact, almost all mammals have 7 neck bones, and differences in neck length come from the length of the bones, not their number.
7 neck bones, just like humans
A giraffe's neck can be about 2.4 meters long, yet it has the same number of neck bones (cervical vertebrae) as a human: 7. According to the Cleveland Zoological Society, each giraffe neck bone can be up to about 25 cm long, and these bones, far bigger than ours, link together to form the long neck.
The size ratio of the bones is approximate.
Almost all mammals have 7
In fact, having 7 neck bones is not special to giraffes. A paper by a research team at the University of Tokyo says that the number of neck bones in mammals has stayed at 7 for at least 200 million years. Whether an animal's neck is short or long, its length is set by how long each bone is, not by how many bones there are.
A bone at the base moves like a neck bone
Still, giraffes have a special trick. The same research team found that the first chest bone (thoracic vertebra), just below the neck, moves more than the other chest bones and works like a neck bone. Because this bone acts as a pivot for moving the neck, it is thought to widen the range the giraffe's head can reach.
What the long neck is for
A long neck is said to help giraffes eat leaves from tall trees and spot enemies far away. Males also use it in a behavior called "necking," where they swing their necks and bump them against each other to test their strength.
Want to know more?
- A giraffe's neck is also very heavy. The whole neck is said to weigh up to about 270 kilograms.
- Because giraffes are tall and can see far, other plant-eating animals on the grassland sometimes watch them to sense danger.
Quick quiz: test yourself
How many neck bones does a giraffe have?
Show the answer
- Seven
- Fourteen
- Thirty
Seven Seven, the same as humans. Its neck is long not because it has more bones, but because each bone is long, up to about 25 cm.
Seven, the same as humans. Its neck is long not because it has more bones, but because each bone is long, up to about 25 cm.
Next quiz ›Sources
- Truth or Tail: Giraffe have more neck bones than a human.Cleveland Zoological Society
- Functional cervicothoracic boundary modified by anatomical shifts in the neck of giraffesRoyal Society Open Science（PubMed Central掲載、東京大学総合研究博物館ほか）
This article was written after checking the sources above as of 2026-10-03. Explanations may change as research progresses. Photo credits are shown below each photo.
