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okapi

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
okapi (ōkăp`ē), nocturnal ruminant mammal, Okapia johnstoni, of the giraffe giraffe, African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters. A male may be 18 ft (5.5 m) from hoof to crown.
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 family. It inhabits the almost sunless rain forests of the upper Congo and feeds on leaves. Its shape is reminiscent of a giraffe's, but it is smaller, with a much shorter neck. It is deep reddish brown with black and white zebra-striped legs. Its head is giraffelike and in the male bears blunt skin-covered horns. The okapi was unknown to zoologists until the beginning of the 20th cent. It is classified in the phylum Chordata Chordata (kôrdā`tə,–dä`–)
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, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Giraffidae.

okapi

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Okapi (Okapia johnstoni )
(credit: Kenneth W. Fink—Root Resources)
Ruminant species (Okapia johnstoni) in the giraffe family that lives alone in Congo rain forests, eating leaves and fruit. Its neck and legs are proportionately shorter than the giraffe's, and females, which are larger than males, stand about 5 ft (1.5 m) at the shoulder. The sleek coat is deep brown on the front of the body; the upper legs are black-and-white-striped, and the lower legs are white, with black rings above the hooves. The male's short horns are covered with skin except at the tips.


okapi
a ruminant mammal, Okapia johnstoni, of the forests of central Africa, having a reddish-brown coat with horizontal white stripes on the legs and small horns: family Giraffidae

okapi [ō′kä·pē]
(vertebrate zoology)
Okapia johnstoni. An artiodactylous mammal in the family Giraffidae; has a hazel coat with striped hindquarters, and the head shape, lips, and tongue are the same as those of the giraffe, but the neck is not elongate.


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In Belgium, where my organ-grinder took me five years ago, they had an okapi in a big city they call Antwerp.
 
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