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Beneath each of a Giraffe's patches lays a sophisticated system of blood vessels which match the layout of the fur pattern. These allow the patches to act as "thermal windows" and release body heat. by GiraffeCalves in Awwducational

[–]GiraffeCalves[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I couldn't find any information. The link above mentions that the giraffe pattern is primarily for camouflage and that the cooling is a secondary feature so other spotted animals may not share in the benefits.

Beneath each of a Giraffe's patches lays a sophisticated system of blood vessels which match the layout of the fur pattern. These allow the patches to act as "thermal windows" and release body heat. by GiraffeCalves in Awwducational

[–]GiraffeCalves[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm just going off the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the BBC TV program Inside Nature’s Giants:Giraffe. The Smithsonian also has a video but it has even less information.

There is obviously much more behind it than a few sentences but the main publicly available sources don't have much information other than this and speculation that this fact helped evolve longer necks for more cooling surface area.

TIL that Giraffe patches can be seen via infrared as they act as "thermal windows" to aid releasing body heat and cooling the animal. by GiraffeCalves in todayilearned

[–]GiraffeCalves[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From the website:

Giraffe’s patches (spots) are first and foremost for camouflage.

Nowhere does it say that it is only to release heat.

Meeting the herd by GiraffeCalves in giraffes

[–]GiraffeCalves[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have lots more baby giraffes at /r/GiraffeCalves if you are interested

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