Why did the giraff's neck became long?

Answer 1

Over time their bodies evolved to accomodate the need to reach the tops of trees to eat leaves.

Answer 2

this is a silly question

the junior high biology answer is that the giraffe "evolved" a long neck so it could eat tree leaves

the notion being that there were some mutations that produced some long-necked versions of something that used to be short necked, and they survived better than the others because grass was in short supply and the animals equipped for leaf eating bred more faster better

that is, of course, ridiculous

if there were one or two mutations that produced a long neck they couldn't possibly produce all the bone changes necessary to support such a neck

there had to be many many mutations over much time and there had to have been some medium necked animals in between that couldn't eat grass or leaves very well

the real answer is, that giraff's neck did not BECOME long
the animals that had shorter necks were not giraffes

why did evolution give us a giraffe from shorter necked species

NOBODY KNOWS

its all just guesses at that point

Answer 3

Did the giraffe evolve a long neck to fill a niche of an animal that can reach the top of the trees or did this happen simultaneously?

Tall trees were around long before giraffes were in existence, and before that, long necked dinosaurs roamed. Some theorize that these dinosaurs did not use their long necks for the sole purpose of reaching these tall trees, but to also observe other animals at greater distances.

But this question is similar to: Why is a macaw such bright red, yellow, and blue colors? Why must a shark keep moving much of its life? Why did the elephants evolve such odd nostrils?

There is never only one answer.

Answer 4

the giraffs neck became long because when everthing was deciding what to eat it chose to eat the leaves off of the bushes, but then as all the leaves were being eaton the bushes grew taller. as the bush grew so did the giraffs neck, if you look at were they live , thats all there is to eat. all the giraffs with short necks had to compete with everything else for the grass and they all died, so the longer the neck the better chance for survivle.so they were the parents of the next generation. and so on. if both of your parents had a long neck so would you.

Answer 5

This won't be a popular answer, but it's the way God created it! Scientists have yet to come up with a good evolutionary explanation to the length of the giraffes neck.

Answer 6

evolution. when food became less abundent on the ground and more abundent on the tree tops the only animals that would surive are the ones that i reach the food. over time and through natural selection the "long neck" develop and thus we have our current day "giraff"...

Answer 7

Natural selection.

Giraffes started eating leaves that were higher in trees to avoid competition with other animals that ate the lower leaves. Over time their neck became longer and longer to have access to the tops of trees and therefore they avoided a lot of competition for food.

Answer 8

hi! suchitra i know i'll tell .long b4 giraffes used to have very small necks like that of a deer. They used to eat the low lying grass . but at one time all the low lying grass was finished! so in orded to reach its food (the higher leaves of branches) it stechted its neck so it be came longggggggggg

Answer 9

apparently earlier giraffes had short necks but they had to get food from trees which are quite tall and basically giraffes evolved into creatures with longer necks to adapt to their conditions and to be able to procure food from trees since they are vegetarians and cannot eat nethin tht moves...

Answer 10

It got it's head caught in a hole and when the elephant pulled, it pulled too hard and Whamo! The giraffe's neck was long...