| Neck is a part of the body of vertebrates, which connects a head to a torso. Neck serves many vital functions and is often particularly vulnerable. Many vital connectors and supplies pass through a neck, such as esophagus, breathing tube and blood vessels feeding the brain artery. Neck vertebrae allow for flexible mobility of a head.
Whose neck is the longest?
In the mountain region of Eastern Africa lives a tribe
with the ancient tradition of prolonging women neck
with brass rings. First of such rings is placed on a girl's neck as
early as at the age of 5. Throughout women's life, neck rings are
added periodically, with a total weight of over 9 kg, thus pulling the neck by an
average of 10 inches. The longest human neck listed in the Guinness Book of
Records, is 15 inches. Such custom is meant to help preserve the
tribal identity and long neck is considered a sign of high social status and wealth.
Constant wearing of such a "necklace" leads to the entire atrophy of women's neck muscles, and if
all the rings are removed at once, the sudden drop of a head can cause
suffocation. In the past, such removal of the neck rings was the punishment
to the women who cheated on their husbands.
Even nowadays, when civilized life made many tribal customs a thing of the
past, even for such remote mountain people, few women dare to
reject this ancient custom, while most others still wear those neck rings and
but needless to say, alter their anatomy with a risk to their health.
Pain in the neck is just one of the smallest heath problems these women can
expect to accumulate over their lifetime. |
San Diego Zoo had another addition this week - a snake necked turtle, which is native to Roti Island of Indonesia. The unusually long neck of the turtle makes it look like a snake, thus the name. The zoo tries to breed
this species in captivity, to save the endangered Asian turtles from extinction. Plus the animal's long neck makes it a great attraction for zoo visitors.
