Had not realized, however, that giraffes' natural habitat consisted mostly of sand and palm trees.

I hadn't known that either, but it would make a certain amount of sense. If the only thing to eat is palm fronds, you'd *need* to be tall.

Then again, I have no idea how edible palm fronds are. Monkeys can eat the pith in the center of the palm, but I don't think that giraffes can. So if giraffes' habitat is all palm trees, I guess they *must* be able to eat palm fronds.