Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology.

ABSTRACT: Giraffe (Giraffa spp.) are among the most unique extant mammals in terms of anatomy, phylogeny, and ecology. However, aspects of their evolution, ontogeny, and taxonomy are unresolved, retaining lingering questions that are pivotal for their conservation. We assembled the largest known dataset of Giraffa skulls (n = 515) to investigate patterns of cranial variability using 3D geometric morphometrics. The results show distinct sexual dimorphism and divergent ontogenetic trajectories of skull shape for the north clade (G. camelopardalis antiquorum, G. c. camelopardalis, G. c. peralta, and G. reticulata) and the south clade (G. giraffa angolensis, G. g. giraffa, G. tippelskirchi tippelskirchi, and G. t. thornicrofti) which was further supported statistically. Discriminant functions found stat

SUBMITTER: Kargopoulos N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11658530 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature