{"id":18202,"date":"2022-06-28T11:04:01","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T09:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=63577"},"modified":"2022-06-28T11:27:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T09:27:14","slug":"why-do-giraffes-have-long-necks","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/why-do-giraffes-have-long-necks\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do giraffes have long necks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stuart Blackman\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 28 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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A new study of the fossil remains of an early giraffe ancestor lends support to the intriguing idea that the extraordinarily long necks of modern giraffes<\/a> evolved to aid fighting as well as feeding.<\/p>\n

Long necks enable giraffes to feed on leaves beyond the reach of competitors. But they are also deployed during tussles for dominance, when males swing their armoured heads at each others\u2019 bodies, with the neck serving as the long handle of a club, increasing the force of the blow.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences<\/a> have now shown that a 17-million-year-old giraffe ancestor, Discokeryx xiezhi<\/em>, possessed helmet-like head armour and robust neck vertebrae, suggesting that head-to-head combat set scene for subsequent neck elongation.<\/p>\n

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