Some rotting trees in New Zealand's bush are the site of the greatest jousting contests. Here, hordes upon hordes compete to be mate. These knights are not human but New Zealand giraffe beevils. They are a species that resembles a lance-like snout and are not humans. The largest males will snout-wallop until the other retreats or is knocked from the bark.Because male giraffe beevils can come in so many sizes, competition is fierce. The largest is 30x larger than the smallest. This would be equivalent to having a friend who is the combined size of two adult Giraffes.Male weevils get larger and their snouts become longer. This would suggest that bigger males require more energy to use their huge heads. Biologists believe that these traits may be honest indicators of how fit an animal is to compete for a mate or other animals. A weak elk wouldn't have the energy necessary to maintain huge horns.A paper in Functional Ecology published Friday reports that the largest New Zealand giraffe beevils use less energy than their smaller-snouted relatives. This is thanks to an anatomical trick.
