From Derek Bolton, Sydney, Australia
Simon Ings reviews Daniel Milo’s Good Enough: The tolerance for mediocrity in nature and society, which argues that, in the absence of proof of a specific evolutionary advantage, giraffes’ long necks should be considered the fruit of chance (20 July, p 28). But since they clearly have major disadvantages, if they had no significant advantage they would have been bred out.
Milo dismisses competition with other browsers, saying their nearest competitor is 2 metres shorter. The nearest competitor to a giraffe is another giraffe.
