Giraffids have large eyes and ears, long and thin lips, and an extensible tongue. The neck, legs, and terminally tufted tail are long. The back inclines upward from the loins to the withers. The feet are large and heavy. The stomach is four-chambered and ruminating, and there is no gall bladder.
Females have two or four mammae.
The horns of the Giraffidae are unlike those of any other mammal. They are present at birth as cartilaginous knobs, which rapidly ossify and grow slowly throughout life. They consist of a bony core that at first is separate from, but later fuses with, the skull. In Giraffa they arise over the anterior part of the parietal bones behind the eyes, the forward base growing over the frontoparietal suture. In Okapia they arise on the frontals above the orbit.