Introducing... Okapi!

You think you have seen everything, but then along comes an animal which makes you question everything you have ever learned. Today I found out about the Okapi.
Although it bears striped markings reminiscent of the zebra, it is the only living close relative of the giraffe. The resemblance it bears to both the zebra and giraffe led some to believe it is a cross between the two, but despite the appearance of certain similarities, it is in fact not closely related to the zebra. Native just to the Ituri forests situated in the north east of the , aka forest giraffe. Democratic Republic of the Congo, it was known only to the local people until 1901.

Here are some funny facts about it:
- has very long (apx. 30 cm or 12 inch), flexible, blue tongue that they use to strip leaves and buds from trees. The tongue of an okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears: it is one of the few mammals that can lick its own ears.
- Okapis are unusual in their ability to sleep for only 5 minutes in a 24 hour period and yet remain at peak alertness.
- The okapi is the symbol of cryptozoology.

(Cryptozoology is the study of animals that are rumored to exist, but for which conclusive proof is still missing; the term also includes the study of animals generally considered extinct, but which are still occasionally reported.)