The Giraffe figures a few times in blazon under these names. It is
described by old heralds as half camel and half leopard. A curious
word-combination was made by the Romans when wishing to find a name for
the giraffe. "It is," says Archbishop Trench, "a creature combining,
though with infinitely more grace, yet some of the height and even the
proportions of _a camel_, with the spotted skin of the _pard_." They
called it "camelopardus," the camel-panther.
There are two heraldic creatures based upon the above which are referred
to in heraldic works, viz., the ALLOCAMELUS or ass-camel, having the body
of the camel conjoined to the head of an ass; and the CAMELOPARDEL, which
is like the camelopard, but with two long horns curved backwards.