How many species of giraffe are there?

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

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.039

Cited by 43 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…However, multi-locus analyses of wild giraffe nuclear loci identified four monophyletic, distinct and evolutionary old groups of giraffe that should be recognized as four distinct species . This finding conflicts with former classifications and has been questioned based on the limited interpretation of traditional data for example, pelage pattern, number of ossicones and geographic distribution (Bercovitch et al, 2017). The initial findings of four giraffe species could, however, be criticized because it did not involve explicit gene flow analyses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Limited introgression supports division of giraffe into four species

Winter

Fennessy

Janke

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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All giraffe (Giraffa) were previously assigned to a single species (G. camelopardalis) and nine subspecies. However, multi‐locus analyses of all subspecies have shown that there are four genetically distinct clades and suggest four giraffe species. This conclusion might not be fully accepted due to limited data and lack of explicit gene flow analyses. Here, we present an extended study based on 21 independent nuclear loci from 137 individuals. Explicit gene flow analyses identify less than one migrant per generation, including between the closely related northern and reticulated giraffe. Thus, gene flow analyses and population genetics of the extended dataset confirm four genetically distinct giraffe clades and support four independent giraffe species. The new findings support a revision of the IUCN classification of giraffe taxonomy. Three of the four species are threatened with extinction, and mostly occurring in politically unstable regions, and as such, require the highest conservation support possible.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Limited introgression supports division of giraffe into four species

Winter

Fennessy

Janke

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The MDD includes a total of 465 species of non-cetacean Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla recognized by Groves and Grubb (2011) with select modifications based on taxonomic refinements published after the release of the latter (e.g., 4 species of Giraffa [Bercovitch et al 2017] versus 8 [Groves and Grubb 2011]). This total compares to 240 species in these orders recognized in MSW3 (> 93% increase).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How many species of mammals are there?

Burgin

Colella

Kahn

et al. 2018

Journal of Mammalogy

820

561

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Accurate taxonomy is central to the study of biological diversity, as it provides the needed evolutionary framework for taxon sampling and interpreting results. While the number of recognized species in the class Mammalia has increased through time, tabulation of those increases has relied on the sporadic release of revisionary compendia like the Mammal Species of the World (MSW) series. Here, we present the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD), a digital, publically accessible, and updateable list of all mammalian species, now available online: https://mammaldiversity.org. The MDD will continue to be updated as manuscripts describing new species and higher taxonomic changes are released. Starting from the baseline of the 3rd edition of MSW (MSW3), we performed a review of taxonomic changes published since 2004 and digitally linked species names to their original descriptions and subsequent revisionary articles in an interactive, hierarchical database. We found 6,495 species of currently recognized mammals (96 recently extinct, 6,399 extant), compared to 5,416 in MSW3 (75 extinct, 5,341 extant)-an increase of 1,079 species in about 13 years, including 11 species newly described as having gone extinct in the last 500 years. We tabulate 1,251 new species recognitions, at least 172 unions, and multiple major, higher-level changes, including an additional 88 genera (1,314 now, compared to 1,226 in MSW3) and 14 newly recognized families (167 compared to 153). Analyses of the description of new species through time and across biogeographic regions show a long-term global rate of ~25 species recognized per year, with the Neotropics as the overall most species-dense biogeographic region for mammals, followed closely by the Afrotropics. The MDD provides the mammalogical community with an updateable online database of taxonomic changes, joining digital efforts already established for amphibians (AmphibiaWeb, AMNH's Amphibian Species of the World), birds (e.g., Avibase, IOC World Bird List, HBW Alive), non-avian reptiles (The Reptile Database), and fish (e.g., FishBase, Catalog of Fishes).Una taxonomía que precisamente refleje la realidad biológica es fundamental para el estudio de la diversidad de la vida, ya que proporciona el armazón evolutivo necesario para el muestreo de taxones e interpretación de resultados del mismo. Si bien el número de especies reconocidas en la clase Mammalia ha aumentado con el tiempo, la tabulación de esos aumentos se ha basado en las esporádicas publicaciones de compendios de revisiones taxonómicas, tales como la serie Especies de mamíferos del mundo (MSW por sus siglas en inglés). En este trabajo presentamos la Base de Datos de Diversidad de Mamíferos (MDD por sus siglas en inglés): una lista digital de todas las especies de mamíferos, actualizable y accesible públicamente, disponible en la dirección URL https://mammaldiversity.org/. El MDD se actualizará con regularidad a medida que se publiquen artículos que describan nuevas especies o que introduzcan cambios de diferentes categorías taxonómica...

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“…For instance, recent suggestions of splitting Giraffa camelopardalis (giraffe, Fennessy et al, 2016) and Chelonoidis nigra (giant Galapagos tortoises, Poulakakis et al, 2015) into four and 13 distinct species, respectively, were based on very different arguments. These articles and the debates that followed (Bercovitch et al, 2017;Fennessy et al, 2017;Loire & Galtier, 2017) How divergence/differentiation should be measured is clearly an important question, which relates to the species concept, and will probably keep finding new answers as science progresses. But whichever criterion one picks, ensuring that is applied the same way across taxa sounds like a minimal requirement.…”

Section: Prop Osal : Referen Ce-ba S Ed Ta Xonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Delineating species in the speciation continuum: A proposal

Galtier

2019

Evolutionary Applications

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Delineating species is a difficult and seemingly uninteresting issue that is still essential to address. Taxonomic methodology is heterogeneous according to the taxa and scientists involved due to the disparate data quality and quantity and disagreements over the species concept. This has negative impacts on basic and applied research. Genomic data substantially enhance our understanding of the speciation process but do not provide a ubiquitous solution to the species problem. The relevance of comparative approaches in speciation research has nevertheless recently been demonstrated. I suggest moving towards a more unified taxonomic classification through a reference‐based decision procedure.

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How many species of giraffe are there?

Cited by 43 publications

References 7 publications

Limited introgression supports division of giraffe into four species

Limited introgression supports division of giraffe into four species

How many species of mammals are there?

Delineating species in the speciation continuum: A proposal

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