Scientists were initially incredulous, suspected photoshop Tue Jan 19 By Annie Roth Jan. 6, 2021 With an average height of roughly 16 feet, giraffes are the tallest mammals on Earth. At about 6 feet long, their lanky legs and towering necks stand taller than most humans, Even the shortest giraffe is twice as tall as the average professional basketball player. So when Michael Brown, a conservation science fellow with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and colleagues came across a Nubian giraffe in Uganda's Murchison Falls National Park in 2015 that was just 9 feet, 4 inches tall, they did a double take. The initial reaction was disbelief Dr. Brown said. The neck on the giraffe nicknamed Gimli was characteristically long, but its legs were