Giraffes May Be Six Separate Species

The BBC reports on research, published in BMC Biology, pointing to the possibility that there may be at least six species of giraffe in Africa. Quoting: "'Using molecular techniques we found that giraffes can be classified into six groups that are reproductively isolated and not interbreeding,' David Brown, the lead author of the study and a geneticist at... UCLA told BBC News. 'The results were a surprise because although the giraffes look different, if you put them in zoos, they breed freely.'"

Comments

Species or subspecies?

[hlt32]

Something doesn't add up in this article. It's missing a few details.

The *definition* of a species is that the members of it can breed and produce *fertile* offspring.

The article could perhaps be mixing up "species" and another term, (perhaps "breed"?) or omitting to mention that offspring produced are infertile.