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Young World
Tallest of them all?
Photo: M.A. Sriram
Just one? Multi species.
The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, may actually be several species, a study has found. Genetic evidence is believed to show that there may be at least six species of giraffe in Africa. Currently giraffes are considered to represent a single species classified into multiple subspecies. The study shows geographic variation in hair coat colour is evident across the giraffe’s range in sub-Saharan Africa, suggesting reproductive isolation. “Using molecular techniques we found that giraffes can be classified into six groups. The results were a surprise because although the giraffes look different, if you put them in zoos, they breed freely,” David Brown, the lead author of the study and a geneticist at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), said. The study also found that the two giraffe subspecies that live closest to each other — the reticulated giraffe in North Kenya, which has reddish round spots; and the Maasai giraffe in South Kenya — separated 0.5 to 1.5 million years ago. Some of these populations number only a few hundred individuals and need immediate protection.
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