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Giraffe Weevil (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/animals@lemmy.world
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From Steve Gettle

"How Crazy is This?" - Giraffe Weevil - Andasibe, Madagascar

Madagascar is filled with unique and interesting things found no where else on earth. This tiny insect is a giraffe weevil it is about 1.5 inches (4 CM) This one is a male, whose neck is roughly three times longer than a female's. During mating season the males will joust with their necks (much like a giraffe) trying to dislodge their rivals from the vegetation.

Good Luck and Good Light! Steve and Nicole

Image: Giraffe Weevil - Andasibe, Madagascar Nikon Z9, Nikkor 105mm Macro, 1/200th @ f16, ISO 200, Nikon R1 - C1 Macro flash, Image cropped 5% for final composition

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[–] 6 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Imagine a giraffe with a right angle in its neck.

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  • [–] [S] 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    When one has an external skeleton, the design language is going to be a bit different.

    I think it's wilder that we have the same number of neck vertebrae as actual giraffes!

    Meanwhile, my owl friends have 14, in a helix formation no less.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Its easier to alter the existing body plan than adding an extra vetrebrae. AFAIK all mammals have the same amount of those.

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  • [–] [S] 7 points 3 weeks ago

    Manatees (6) and sloths (5-10) are the exceptions.

    It's very interesting that it is only cervical vertebrae that remain nearly universally consistent. Lumbar and thoracic numbers vary quite wildly.

    I found this really interesting paper hypothesizing that a combo of low metabolism and low activity can lead to a loosening of evolutionary constraint on that number, based on the sloths and manatees being the outliers. Their study also shows bushbabies being the only primate where around 30% of the 80ish specimens studied had a thoracic vertebra that had not fully developed a rib, making it much more like a cervical vertebra. They were said to be the least active and metabolically demanding of the primates, further supporting their hypothesis.

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    • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    So giraffes I can get the evolutionary benefit of being taller to reach higher food, but what is the benefit here? Seems like just extra difficulty in creating and maintaining a long thin structure without much gain. Sometimes evolution makes something and it sticks for no real gain I suppose.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 3 weeks ago

    All we seem to know is they use them for fighting and courtship displays. The males have necks 2-3x longer than the females, so it doesn't seem to be something for getting food or anything.

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    • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    I don't know why but something about this lil guy is so whimsical. His head is just so far from his body. It's adorable

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