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| Early Giraffes Had Short Necks | |||
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| 작성자 : | 관리자 | ||
Giraffes are one of the most recognizable creatures in the animal kingdom. The tall, gentle herbivores with extremely long necks can be found throughout the African continent. Recently, some new information was released about giraffes. It turns out that the famous necks of the African ancestors were much shorter in the past. The new information is based on fossils found by paleontologists in northwestern China. The fossils were of animals that lived 16.9 million years ago. Now extinct, they were part of a species named Discokeryx xiezhi, an ancient relative of modern giraffes. These ancestors were different from modern giraffes in many ways. They were about the size of sheep and had thick and short necks, which is the total opposite of their descendants. They also had a bony disk on top of their skull. The tough protective layer resembled a helmet on the animals’ head. According to the paleontologists, the males of these giraffe relatives needed these “helmets” to butt heads with each other. They did this to win over potential mates, much like rhinos and bulls do today. As these ancient animals evolved, their necks began to extend and get thinner. This suggests that those with longer necks dominated in the fights for the females. Of course, modern giraffes no longer have a helmet-shaped disk on top of their skull. But interestingly, the male giraffes still engage in a similar ritual as their shorter ancestors. But instead of butting heads, they now swing their necks to hit each other.  |
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