the girrafe

Since Darwin first dictated his theory of natural selection, only one plausible
hypothesis for the evolution of the giraffe’s towering height could be reasoned.
 The long neck of the giraffe evolved to allow access to plant material unavailable
 to its shorter competitors. Thus, over time, interspecific competition provided
enough pressure to allow the giraffe to occupy an empty niche: the tops of trees.
It seems the only reasonable evolutionary explanation of a giraffe’s neck must have
to do with feeding . . . or is it?
    The interspecific feeding competition hypothesis for the giraffe’s neck was
first proposed by Darwin (Freeman and Herron 2001). In simplified form it
states that the neck of giraffes evolved due to interspecific competition for food.
This selective pressure over time allowed giraffe decedents with longer necks
(directly correlated to food gathering abilities) to survive over those with
shorter necks. After millions of years, the giraffe decedents surviving have
the massive height which we see today.
    Although the interspecific feeding competition hypothesis seems obvious,
it lacks data to support it.