AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -According to Darwin: Due to natural variation, the ancestors of modern giraffes have necks of different length. Giraffes with longer necks are better able to reach more food, survive and produce more high-quality offspring. Giraffes with short necks starved, didn’t reproduce.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to Lamarck, the giraffe got its long neck because its ancestors stretched theirs to eat leaves that were just out of reach. This stretching of the neck was passed on to their offspring, over generations, until it reached its current length.

Detailed explanation-3: -The classic giraffe question comes from a French zoologist who, eight years before the birth of Charles Darwin, offered a revolutionary take on the evolution of animals and laid the groundwork for our modern day understanding of evolution. His name was Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

Detailed explanation-4: -A Darwinian theory of evolution posits that it was through random variation that some giraffes had longer necks than others. Thanks to their long necks, they were able to reach leaves high up in the trees in their environment.

Detailed explanation-5: -Charles Darwin held up giraffes as a prime example of natural selection, his theory that’s often summarized as “survival of the fittest.” Giraffes with comparably longer necks could reach food high up in trees, which gave them an advantage over other animals and members of their own species with shorter necks.