A major reason that the giraffe example is used to support
evolution is because it is an easily explainable, memorable
and eloquent example that can effectively illustrate
Darwinism via artwork or photographs.13 The explanation
required is simple and easy to grasp: longer necks can reach
higher levels of acacia trees and as a result those with longer
necks were more apt to survive. Virtually all texts picture
giraffes eating from acacia trees, incorrectly implying that
this is the main giraffe diet. In Simmons and Scheeper’s
words, ‘so appealing is this hypothesis that students of
giraffe behavior and evolutionary biologists alike accept
it implicitly’.15