Sexual selection promotes giraffoid head-neck evolution and ecological adaptation

Abstract

The long neck of the giraffe has been held as a classic example of adaptive evolution since Darwin's time. Here we report on an unusual fossil giraffoid, <i>Discokeryx xiezhi</i>, from the early Miocene, which has an unusual disk-shaped headgear and the most complicated head-neck joints in known mammals. The distinctive morphology and our finite element analyses indicate an adaptation for fierce head-butting behavior. Tooth enamel isotope data suggest that <i>D. xiezhi</i> occupied a niche different from that of other herbivores, comparable to the characteristic high-level browsing niche of modern giraffes. The study shows that giraffoids exhibit a higher headgear diversity than other ruminants and that living in specific ecological niches may have fostered various intraspecific combat behaviors that resulted in extreme head-neck morphologies in different giraffoid lineages.