A new study conducted in which researchers analyzed giraffe fossils has unveiled clues behind the evolution of the giraffe’s iconic neck — a neck long believed to have evolved to access more food or to fight.
According to the scientists behind the study, which was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the fossil shows that the evolution of giraffe necks likely came about in several stages in which their neck vertebrae stretched towards their head and then later, towards their tail — a process which occurred over the course of millions of years.
It wasn’t until a few million years after the stretch towards the head that the animal’s neck vertebrae stretched towards their tail, the researchers reported.
Giraffe anatomy expert Nikos Solounias, a paleontologist at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine involved in the study, was quoted by EurekAlert as having said that it is “interesting to note that the lengthening was not consistent,” as it underwent its evolution in two stages. The result of which is the modern giraffe, whose neck has stretched to heights dwarfing the necks of the rest of the world’s species.
It’s interesting to note that the lengthening was not consistent (…) First, only the front portion of the C3 vertebra lengthened in one group of species. The second stage was the elongation of the back portion of the C3 neck vertebra. The modern giraffe is the only species that underwent both stages, which is why it has a remarkably long neck.
Together, Solounias and medical student Melinda Danowitz with NYIT’s Academic Medicine Scholars program, analyzed a total of 71 fossils which were discovered between the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fossils studied — which were hosued in museums spanning from Kenya to England, Austria to Greece — were from both living species as well as those long extinct.
Danowitz noted that their research indicates that the neck lengthening process began prior to the first giraffe family’s creation, some 16 million years ago.
We also found that the most primitive giraffe already started off with a slightly elongated neck (…) The lengthening started before the giraffe family was even created 16 million years ago.
The long leg bones of the giraffe are next in line to be studied by the researchers.
Giraffes aren’t the only long-necked creatures to have walked this planet, as paleontologists somewhat recently discovered a dinosaur, the “dragon of Quijang,” with a 25-foot long neck in China — a neck which spans nearly half the length of its body.
