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posted by janrinok on Sunday September 11 2016, @03:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the tall-tale dept.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37311716

It is a famous, gentle giant of the African savannah, but the giraffe's genetics have just revealed that there is not one species, but four. Giraffes have previously been recognised to be a single species divided into several sub-species. But this latest study of their DNA suggests that four groups of giraffes have not cross-bred and exchanged genetic material for millions of years. This is a clear indication that they have evolved into distinct species.

The study published in the journal Current Biology has rewritten the biology of Earth's tallest mammal. The scientists say their findings could inform the conservation efforts for all four species of giraffe. [...] In the last 15 years, the population of giraffes has declined by 40% - there are now an estimated 90,000 individuals in the wild. But, as a single species, they are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as of Least Concern. Now, it is clear that each of these four newly classified species could be faring very differently.

Multi-locus Analyses Reveal Four Giraffe Species Instead of One (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.036) (DX)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 11 2016, @04:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 11 2016, @04:38PM (#400312)

    Because entire brainwashed countries use it as their guiding principal...