Giraffes Have a Long Neck Not to Eat Leaves on the Tops of Trees

Giraffe is the tallest creature on the planet. The height of the adult individual is nearly 6m, and their long neck is nearly 2m long.

Key Facts About Giraffe

Many people will certainly assume that the high neck is because they reach their necks to eat the leaves above, so that they don't have to compete with other animals. Over a long period of time, their necks grew longer and passed on to the next generations.

Some other opinions believe that the high neck is to attract mates. During the breeding season, male giraffes will use their long necks to dig at each other, often the longer one will win to fight their partners.

In 1963, A. Brownlee proposed a hypothesis that the high neck was the method of regulating the body temperature of the tallest animal on the planet. Because of Africa's increasingly hot heat, it forced them to rise their necks to increase the area covered by the shadow, helping the temperature to be more balanced.

Why Giraffe Matters

This seemingly ridiculous hypothesis could be true. Recently, Graham Mitchell, a researcher from Wyoming University (USA), conducted a test to evaluate the bodies of giraffes in Zimbabwe.

The results show that, like species with similar masses, the surface area of giraffes is very normal, but the very long but narrow shape of the neck has a very good cooling capacity.

When overheated, giraffes only need to point their heads towards the Sun, which helps them reduce most of the area exposed to the sun and their body temperature will drop.

Currently, scientific scientists are continuing to research before making an official conclusion.