Giraffes' Long Necks Explained: Its Evolution Happened in Several Stages, Says Study

The long neck apparently came before the giraffe.

A recent study published on the October 7 issue of the Royal Society Publishing journal provides a lengthy but comprehensive tell tale on how the giraffe's long neck came to be.

The new fossils shed light on the long-discussed topic.

According to Live Science, the researchers studied and analyzed 71 animals' (from 11 different species) "neck vertebrae" - including modern giraffes, their relatives, as well as their ancient ancestors.

The Smithsonian Mag says in a report, as per the findings of lead researcher Melinda Donowitz and team, that the giraffe's ancestors are already born with long necks - longer than they have prepared themselves for. This then leads the team to a conclusion that the animal's neck "lengthening" happened 16 million years ago, before "Giraffidae" split from other "two-toed beasts."

"We wanted to figure out how the giraffe got its long neck because we know that its ancestors had a shorter neck," says Nikos Solounias the study's senior researcher and a professor of anatomy at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) College of Osteopathic Medicine, as quoted by Live Science.

Live Science notes that 16 million years ago, the "Giraffidae" divided into two. The first group had their vertebrae shortened overtime, while the second one went the opposite way. The same report remarks that it is the reason why the modern giraffe and the okapi, a short-necked relative of the giraffe, have differences in terms of cervical (neck) vertebrae.

They found that two species - Prodremotherium elongatum, which lived 25 million years ago and was potentially an ancestor of modern giraffes, and Canthumeryx sirtensis, which was a giraffe ancestor that lived 16 million years ago - both had elongated necks.

Co-author Switek, as per The Smithsonian Mag, informs that the "truly long-necked giraffe" only came to be 7.5 million years ago, noting that it also isn't a short progression. He furthers in the same report that the giraffe's neck bones built from the bottom of the neck or at the top. The modern-day giraffe we see was reported to be the only one whose cervical vertebrae "stretched in both directions."

The findings, moreover, reveal that the giraffe's neck "elongated disproportionally," according to Solounias. "In the beginning you had an anterior [front] elongation, and then later, you had a posterior [back] elongation," he clarfies as per Live Science.

Currently, researchers are now trying to solve the why behind the giraffe neck's evolution. They suppose, for one, that the long neck helped giraffes "graze on leaves high above the heads of other herbivores."

Danowitz, on the other hand, presume that the long necks are an advantage in mating, as today's giraffes engage in a duel by "swinging their heads and necks against each other." Female giraffes mate with the winning party.