Male giraffes take a mouthful of the female's urine to determine if she'd be a good mate. This is known as the “Flehmen sequence”, where the male giraffe will approach the female and then rub against her backside until she pees.⁠ In intense bouts, male giraffes compete for dominance by steadying their legs and swinging their necks to deliver sledgehammer blows to each other with the stout ossicones atop their heads.⁠ ⁠ Male giraffes will explore a female's rump and genital area, and if she likes him (wink!) she'll voluntarily produce urine which he'll sniff and taste, to see if she's in estrus.⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ #giraffes #biology #science #animals⁠