How has the giraffe changed over time?

Answer 1

Thousands of years ago the giraffe had a short neck comparable to that of todays horse, over time and through evolution the giraffes neck grew so that it could reach the bottom of tree branches. This long neck ensured their survival, (survival of the fittest).

Answer 2

Contrary to what was written prior, the giraffe is NOT a direct descendant from a dinosaur. More evidence as to why websites like this are dangerous to refer to as sources of information. Mammals in fact are linked pre dinosaur and any similarity in functional morphology is pure adaptation to environment.

Answer 3

The ancestors of giraffes really had short necks. When they reproduced, some of their children were mutated to have longer necks. The mutated giraffes could reach the trees to eat so ,overtime, the population of normal giraffes decreased and the population of mutated giraffes increased. - Not true. There are many scientific sites on the internet disproving this theory. They probably evolved long necks to fight against other giraffes.

Answer 4

According to Darwin's theory, giraffes have long necks because they inherited it from their parents. The reason those giraffes could reproduce is because they were the only giraffes to survive since they could reach the food and short-necked population soon died after not being able to eat off high trees. The reason THEY had long necks was probubly because of some variation that was to their benefit. Hope I helped :]