FLICKR, JOHN HILLIARD
Species: Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Genome size: 2.9 billion base pairs
Long viewed as a single species, giraffes are in fact four distinct species according to the authors of a new genetic analysis. The genes of these four groups are about as different from each other as those of brown bears and polar bears, evidence that the groups do not interbreed in the wild, according to a press release.
Researchers sequenced and compared seven loci in the genomes of 141 giraffes, publishing their findings in Cell last month (September 26). “We were extremely surprised, because the morphological and coat pattern differences between giraffes are limited,” coauthor Axel Janke of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre said in the press release.
Relabeling the world’s tallest mammal ...
