The Strange Elegance of the Giraffe-Necked Antelope



Enjoy this piece on Scienceray about the wonderful Giraffe-Necked Antelope of East Africa.  Just as their taller friends have evolved to get to the higher branches of green in a barren landscape, this unique species also took to the higher branches of smaller flora.

It's also obvious, but worth pointing out ~ they're as cute as all getout.
They will use their forelegs to pull down branches that are even higher than they are and can get to tender new leaves that other animals cannot.  As a plus, the GNA does not need to drink water at all – it gets all the moisture it needs from the plants they devour.

http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/the-strange-elegance-of-the-giraffe-necked-antelope/ |Image by Flickr user nonisense.

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"Just as their taller friends have evolved to get to the higher branches of green in a barren landscape". A common evolutionary misconception. No animal evolves in order to help itself, eg the giraffe's genes did not 'decide' to alter to reach trees, rather the genes altered and this proved beneficial, therefore they were passed on to the animal's offspring.
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I remember watching some gerenuks last time I was at the LA Zoo, extending themselves to the utmost in their drive to trim an extra inch of the grass surrounding their paddock.
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