Giraffes

Posted by rpcman on August 26, 1998 at 12:57:59:

In Reply to: Response posted by Carlos on August 26, 1998 at 12:50:12:

: To the best of my knowledge, the average height of giraffes hasn't really changed much.

: That's because we haven't been around nearly long enough to observe any change.

I understand that there are two modes of thought on giraffe necks. The older (and perhaps outdated version) states that giraffes evolved in Africa when the continent was undergowing rapid change (similar to the pressures places on the Finches in the galapagos and the primates that resulted in us). The newer theory is based on sexual selection. Check out the article below:

Simmons, R. E. and L. Scheepers. 1996. Winning by a neck: sexual selection in the evolution of giraffe. The American Naturalist, 148(5): 771-786.