Irish Examiner view: Tall story behind tall animal

Taoiseach Micheál Martin with Sean McKeown, director of Fota Wildlife Park, feeding the Rothschild's giraffes in Fota Wildlife Park at the launch of Fota Wildlife Park, earlier this year. Researchers believe that giraffes' long necks are not an evolutionary advantage to claim the best foliage but rather serve as an effective weapon against male rivals for the right to access to the herd's females.  Picture:  Darragh Kane

Who doesn’t admire a giraffe? Spindly legs, unfeasibly long neck, lolloping across the African savannah like an extra from Jurassic Park, 50cm tongue, large brown eyes with long, black lashes, able to stand within 30 minutes of being born. A great model for a toy for the baby crib. What’s not to like?

Up until now, we have always believed that the reason they are the world’s tallest living mammals was that an evolutionary competition for food drove the elongation of their necks to help them reach the best woodland foliage.

Sadly, this Darwinian theory is under challenge. Their height, according to Chinese researchers, is due to appetites of an entirely different kind.

Scientists now say that the long neck serves as a weapon in male courtship. The longer the neck, the greater the damage inflicted on lovelorn rivals during the head-butting sessions which decide who has the first choice of females.

We thought better of giraffes. Another example, we suppose, of sex rearing its ugly head.