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The distinctive long neck of a giraffe, for example, developed as individuals that happened to have longer necks had an advantage in feeding on the leaves of tall trees.
The distinct long neck of a giraffe, for example, developed as individuals that happened to have longer necks had an advantage in feeding on the leaves of tall trees.
What is more appropriate word for the sentence above?
The 5 most common nouns in a sentence starting with The distinct... are advantage, feature, difference, features, nature.
The 5 most common nouns in a sentence starting with The distinctive... are feature, features, character, characteristics, characteristic.
It's unrealistic to suppose that the two usages are somehow referring to different "types" of features, so I suggest the two adjectival forms are to a considerable extent interchangeable.
But note that distinct tends to mean clearly discernible (sharply defined, not out of focus), whereas distinctive is more often used to mean striking, noteworthy and/or clearly distinguishable (easily identified as "different" to other things of the same general class).
So Hitler's distinctive toothbrush mustache, for example, is thus referenced because it stands out from other mustache styles, but a distinct echo is one that can be heard clearly (we're not normally comparing it to other echoes! :)
For OP's exact context, there's no doubt that the most common adjective is distinctive long neck (easily distinguishable from the necks of other animals), but there are a number of written references to a distinct long neck in Google Books, so I'd say that's a "valid, but less common stylistic choice".
There are also a number of written references to a distinctly long neck (unquestionably long), which in some contexts is a perfectly reasonable stylistic choice.
Merriam-Webster defines distinctive as:
1a: marking as separate or different : serving to distinguish
the distinctive flight of the crane
1b: having or giving an uncommon and appealing quality : having or giving style or distinction
a distinctive table setting
a writer with a distinctive prose style
For distinct the same dictionary gives this as its first two definitions:
1: distinguishable to the eye or mind as being discrete or not the same: SEPARATE
a distinct cultural group
teaching as distinct from research
2: presenting a clear unmistakable impression
a neat distinct handwriting
They are obviously related words but not the same. It's clearer if you compare the opposite meaning of the two words. Distinctive contrasts with ordinary or uninteresting; distinct contrasts with vague or unidentifiable.
So you probably mean distinctive.
Distinctive means tending to distinguish, whereas distinct means either separate or particular. So in your example, if one wishes to say “what sets them apart,” the better choice is distinctive.
