Jean Baptiste Lamarck. (№ 402316)

We know that this animal [giraffe], the tallest of mammals, dwells in the heart of Africa, in places where the soil, almost always arid and devoid of herbs, forcing him to climb trees and constantly to strain to reach them. This habit, long maintained in all members of his race, led to the fact that the front legs were longer than the back, and the neck is so stretched, that the giraffe, without standing on his hind legs, raises its head to a height of six meters.