by Chinese Academy of Sciences

https://phys.org/news/2022-06-strange-fossil-giraffe-evolutionary-mystery.html

Fossils of a strange early giraffoid have revealed the key driving forces in giraffe evolution, according to a study led by researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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The study was published inScienceon June 2.

How the giraffe’s long neck evolved has long been an evolutionary mystery. Although there have been different opinions about the process of giraffe neck elongation, scientists never doubted that the impetus for neck elongation was high foliage.

However, as observation of giraffe behavior increased, scientists began to realize that the elegant, long neck of giraffes actually serves as a weapon in male courtship competition and this may be the key to the giraffe evolutionary mystery.

Specifically, giraffes use their two-to-three-meter-long swinging necks…