Recently some very exciting news rocked the animal-lovers community: there are four different species of giraffes, not one like the world thought. Although there have been nine subspecies of giraffes recognized by the scientific community for some time now there was thought to be only one species of giraffe.
Recently a group of researchers debunked this when they ran genetic tests on 190 giraffes and discovered that there are four main species of giraffes. These giraffes have been scientifically labeled G. camelopardalis, G. reticulata, G. tippelskirchi, and G. giraffa. The common names for the species are the northern giraffe (G. camelopardalis), the reticulated giraffe (G. reticulata), the Masai giraffe (G. tippelskirchi), and the southern giraffe (G. giraffa), according to the study by Dr. Julian Fennessy et al.
The Nothern giraffe (G. Camelopardalis)
The Reticulated giraffe (G. reticulata )
The Southern giraffe (G. giraffa )
Besides genetic differences, these giraffes cannot breed outside of their own species in the wild and they occupy different places in Africa. In order for this separation to have occurred, the giraffes must have been separated from each other for enough time for them to mutate into different species. This discrepancy was not discovered until recently due to the lack of research performed on these beautiful animals and it was by accident that this discovery was even made. Dr. Fennessy claims that his team was actually looking to learn more about the genome of the giraffe.
This may seem like unimportant information, which is in part why the research of giraffes had not been particularly thorough to this point--but it is really important that we now know about the different species because we can help the endangered species that we didn't previously know existed. According to Smithsonian.com, two of these newly discovered species have less than 10,000 in existence which Dr. Julian Fennessy, one of the giraffe researchers, says "makes them some of the most endangered large mammals in the world and [requires] doubling...protection efforts to secure these populations." The Giraffe Conservation Foundation estimates "that the northern giraffe has fewer than 4,750 individual giraffes in the wild, while the reticulated giraffe number less than 8,700." With the help of this new research, conservationists can prevent some of the giraffe species from becoming extinct. It is arguably because of a lack of research that the world may lose some of these incredible giraffes.
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