Computer-aided photographic pelage pattern analysis of Giraffa camelopardalis (Artiodactyla: Giraffidae)
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is one of the most recognisable animal species on earth. Yet hunting and habitat loss and fragmentation have led to severe, but until recently largely unnoticed, declines of giraffe populations all over Africa. The IUCN recognised one single species with nine subspecies and changed the status from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ […]
External features of giraffe
In the wild it is difficult to decide with certainty which giraffe calf belongs to which mother and impossible to determine the calf’s father. It is only in zoos that an offspring’s parents are known so that problems of heredity can be studied. Giraffe make a particularly interesting field of study in that individual variations […]
Revisiting giraffe photo-identification using deep learning and network analysis
An increasing number of research programs rely on photographic capture-recapture (vs. direct marking) of individuals to study distribution and demography within animal populations. Photo-identification of individuals living in the wild is sometimes feasible using idiosyncratic coat or skin patterns, like for giraffes. When performed manually, the task is tedious and becomes almost impossible as populations […]
Seeing spots: quantifying mother-offspring similarity and assessing fitness consequences of coat pattern traits in a wild population of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Polymorphic phenotypes of mammalian coat coloration have been important to the study of genetics and evolution, but less is known about the inheritance and fitness consequences of individual variation in complex coat pattern traits such as spots and stripes. Giraffe coat markings are highly complex and variable and it has been hypothesized that variation in […]
Extensive population genetic structure in the giraffe
Background: A central question in the evolutionary diversification of large, widespread, mobile mammals is how substantial differentiation can arise, particularly in the absence of topographic or habitat barriers to dispersal. All extant giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are currently considered to represent a single species classified into multiple subspecies. However, geographic variation in traits such as pelage […]
Darkening coat colour reveals life history and life expectancy of male Thornicroft’s giraffes
Much of the information available about the life history of the giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, is derived from captive studies or short-term field studies. The coat colour of male giraffes, especially the blotches, darkens with age, but no studies have systematically mapped the colour transition with chronological age based on long-term data. We examine the value […]