Giraffes stretch
Giraffids diversify across Africa and Eurasia, including the massive Sivatherium.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 11 million years
- Known to
- ± 2 million years
- Era
- Miocene, Cenozoic
The giraffe family appears in the Miocene and produces a range of forms far beyond the two living species: okapi-like forest browsers, the heavily built ossicone-bearing Sivatherium, and the lineage that gradually elongates neck and legs. The classic explanation for the long neck — reaching high foliage — competes with a sexual selection argument based on necking combat between males. The neck contains seven vertebrae, the same number as a mouse or a human, each one enormously elongated.