How many species of giraffe are there?

Fred B Bercovitch; Philip S M Berry; Anne Dagg; Francois Deacon; John B Doherty; Derek E Lee; Frédéric Mineur; Zoe Muller; Rob Ogden; Russell Seymour; Bryan Shorrocks; Andy Tutchings

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.039

How many species of giraffe are there?

Curr Biol. 2017 Feb 20;27(4):R136-R137. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.039.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan; Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group. Electronic address: Bercovitch.fred.2u@kyoto-u.ac.jp.
² P. O. Box 33, Mfuwe, Zambia.
³ IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group; Department of Independent Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group.
⁵ IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group; Reticulated Giraffe Project, Nairobi, Kenya; School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
⁶ IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group; Wild Nature Institute, Hanover, NH, USA.
⁷ Reticulated Giraffe Project, Nairobi, Kenya; School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
⁸ IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group; Giraffe Research and Conservation Trust, Nairobi, Kenya; School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁹ Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
¹⁰ IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group; Reticulated Giraffe Project, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹¹ Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York, UK; Department of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
¹² IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group.

PMID: 28222287
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.039

Abstract

In a recent paper in Current Biology, Fennessy and colleagues [1] conclude that there are four species of giraffe and that their numbers are declining in Africa. Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are presently classified as one species, with nine subspecies, which are considered 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List [2]. The present consensus of one species divided into nine subspecies has previously been questioned (Supplemental information), and Fennessy and colleagues [1] provide another viewpoint on giraffe taxonomy. The fundamental reason for different taxonomic interpretations is that they are based upon different datasets that adopt different statistical techniques and follow different criteria for nomenclature.

Publication types

Letter
Comment

MeSH terms

Africa
Animals
Giraffes*