The okapi is the giraffe’s only living relative. Although its zebra-like stripes and compact body look unlike a giraffe, both animals are the only surviving members of the family Giraffidae.
The okapi, Okapia johnstoni, is native to the dense forests of the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It shares important traits with giraffes, including a long dark tongue, a pacing gait, and bony skull structures called ossicones in males. Its stripes likely help break up its outline in forest shade.
European scientists learned of the animal around the turn of the twentieth century. Philip Lutley Sclater initially placed it in the horse genus Equus, but later study of its skull established that it belonged with giraffes. In 1901, Ray Lankester assigned it the genus Okapia. The common error is treating the okapi as a zebra relative; its stripes are superficial, while its closest living kinship is with giraffes.