A guide to estimating the age of Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi)
This is a guide for estimating the age of Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) with noninvasive methods. Giraffes are commonly categorized into three age classes: calf (0 – 1 year), subadult (1 – 5 years) and adult (> 5 years). This categorization, though somewhat arbitrary, has its origins in giraffe life history. After birth, calves […]
Comparisons of Schansitherium tafeli with Samotherium boissieri (Giraffidae, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Gansu Province, China
We are describing and figuring for the first time skulls of Schansitherium tafeli, which are abundant in the Gansu area of China from the Late Miocene. They were animals about the size of Samotherium with shorter necks that had two pairs of ossicones that merge at the base, which is unlike Samotherium. The anterior ossicones […]
Ontogenetic similarities between giraffe and sauropod neck osteological mobility
The functional morphology of sauropod dinosaur long necks has been studied extensively, with virtual approaches yielding results that are difficult to obtain with actual fossils, due to their extreme fragility and size. However, analyses on virtual fossils have been questioned on several of their premises, such as the ability to accurately reconstruct intervertebral tissue with […]
The giraffe’s long neck : From evolutionary fable to whole organism
A LONE GIRAFFE BULL STOOD at the edge of the scrubby bush forest that opened into a grassland. It was August, the beginning of spring, but also the middle of the dry season in the southern African savannah. The grasses and forbs were yellowed and brittle. Many trees and bushes had no leaves, though some still […]
Why sauropods had long necks; and why giraffes have short necks
The necks of the sauropod dinosaurs reached 15 m in length: six times longer than that of the world record giraffe and five times longer than those of all other terrestrial animals. Several anatomical features enabled this extreme elongation, including: absolutely large body size and quadrupedal stance providing a stable platform for a long neck; […]
Understanding selection for long necks in different taxa
There has been recent discussion about the evolutionary pressures underlying the long necks of extant giraffes and extinct sauropod dinosaurs. Here we summarise these debates and place them in a wider taxonomic context. We consider the evolution of long necks across a wide range of (both living and extinct) taxa and ask whether there has […]
The giraffe’s neck: another icon of evolution falls
The giraffe is a major problem for Darwinism for many reasons. No evidence exists in the fossil record for giraffe evolution, nor are evolutionists able to explain why the giraffe’s neck evolved. The most common Darwinian explanation for giraffe neck evolution—the advantage a long neck gave in reaching leaves high in trees for food—is now […]
The Evolution of the Long-Necked Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis L.) – What Do We Really Know? (Part 2)
Introduction: The story which is commonly taught in high schools about the evolution of the long-necked giraffe by natural selection (feeding-competition-hypothesis) fails to explain, among other things, the size differences between males and females. Giraffe cows are up to 1.5 meters shorter than the giraffe bulls, not to mention the offspring. The wide migration range […]
The evolution of the long-necked giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis L.) – What do we really know? (Part 1)
In the following article the assertions of three supporters of the synthetic theory concerning the evolution of the long-necked giraffe will be discussed: the statements of Ulrich Kutschera, Richard Dawkins and Kathleen Hunt. Ulrich Kutschera made the following statement regarding the origin of the giraffe, on 29 November 2005 in 3SAT (a German TV channel): […]
Fossil evidence and stages of elongation of the Giraffa camelopardalis neck
Several evolutionary theories have been proposed to explain the adaptation of the long giraffe neck; however, few studies examine the fossil cervical vertebrae. We incorporate extinct giraffids, and the okapi and giraffe cervical vertebral specimens in a comprehensive analysis of the anatomy and elongation of the neck. We establish and evaluate 20 character states that […]