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

Same thing with people...

[Anonymous Coward]

Even though we all look different (eg: skin colour, height, "width", etc), if you put us in zoos, we will breed freely also

Re:Same thing with people...

[Beached]

Yah, it's called College

Re:Same thing with people...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, its also called low income housing...

Re:Same thing with people...

[Alsee]

Paraphrasing the sequence of this thread
Person A: "niggers and spics 2+2=4"
Person B: "Racist"
You: "You mean he's incorrect? Two plus two is NOT four?"

No. He meant person A was a racist ass (and/or a deliberate troll).

African-Americans and Hispanic people aren't disproportionately located in low income housing?

That is a simple fact.

Someone who thinks that fact is relevant to mention may or may not be a racist, and it is reasonable to consider the context to see if it was indeed a reasonable relevant point or if it was motivated by bigotry.

Someone who rants about "niggers and spics" is a racist ass (and/or a deliberately trolling), regardless of whatever is said along with "niggers and spics".

Hitler said 2+2=4. He may even have used 2+2=4 somewhere as one step in his rationalization for exterminating Jews and other "undesirables". A true fact is a true fact, no matter who utters it. And equally, the fact that some literal datum is true does not necessarily make it relevant, and does not mean that it is being applied in a valid context mental chain of intent and conclusion.

-

Re:Same thing with people...

[Chineseyes]

Here is a dirty little fact that most people don't know the average adult on welfare is a single WHITE woman with children. Furthermore white people live off of welfare as well and profit from it far more than African Americans or Hispanics, except in the corporate world they call it SUBSIDIES. All those farmers who get paid NOT to farm? All those airlines who receive money from the government to avoid bankruptcy. All of the oil companies who get huge tax breaks when they are earning record profits? Thats government sponsored WELFARE and the people who benefit from such welfare are largely middle class and upper middle class people who are largely white. Welfare programs for the poor are absolute chump change compared to the amount of money corporations and by proxy their shareholders take from the government.

Breeding?

[FroBugg]

Although the giraffes look different, if you put them in zoos, they breed freely.

Assuming they produce viable offspring, isn't that one of the primary definitions for a single species?

Re:Breeding?

[srussia]

Although the giraffes look different, if you put them in zoos, they breed freely.

Assuming they produce viable offspring, isn't that one of the primary definitions for a single species? There is no rigorous definition of "species". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_problem

Re:Breeding?

[djupedal]

"wouldn't it be better to say 6 subspecies of giraffe?"

You mean, like:

• giraffa
• giraffb
• giraffc
• giraffd
• giraffe
• girafff

?

Re:Breeding?

[ozmanjusri]

What about the Norwegian Blue?

Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

Re:Breeding?

[ConanG]

you mean like:

Reticulated Giraffe
Masai Giraffe
Rothschild Giraffe
South African Giraffe
Thornicroft Giraffe
Nigerian Giraffe

Re:Breeding?

[shellbeach]

wouldn't it be better to say 6 subspecies of giraffe? IAAB, and yes, that's absolutely correct. They're subspecies.

You get the same thing with the house mouse, mus musculus -- subspecies that are genetically distinct and geographically isolated, but which will interbreed in captivity (and in bordering zones in the wild). It's presumed that a lower fitness in the offspring of cross-subspecies matings in bordering zones keeps the subspecies separate.

Re:Breeding?

[aussie_a]

Someone want to link me the Monty Python script this is taken from so I can see where this comment originated?

Oh you might be wondering how I know its a Monty Python quote without knowing the reference? Its elementary, you see:
* Its been modded 2, Funny so it could be a joke.
* It makes very little sense in this context confirms it is a joke.
* A very British accent is being used so obviously the joke is of English (the country, not the language) origin.
* This is a site for nerds so unless a cult of The Goodies has risen up while I wasn't looking, it has to be a Monty Python reference.

Re:Breeding?

[91degrees]

Yes, but then he wouldn't be able to show how smart he was working out it was a python reference.

Contradiction?

[shish]

reproductively isolated and not interbreeding ... if you put them in zoos, they breed freely. Does this not make sense to anyone else?

Re:Contradiction?

[ferd_farkle]

Reproductive isolation is a major characteristic of speciation. Lions and tigers, horses and donkeys, etc are different species, but under unnatural conditions may mate and even produce offspring. Depending on how unrelated the species are, the offspring may or may not be viable.

Speciation is not as cut-and-dried as you might think. Reproductively isolated populations diverge more and more over time, and the speciation becomes more and more pronounced.

Re:Contradiction?

[pigah]

Most people are familiar with what is called the Biological Species Concept, which defines species as a reproductively isolated group of organisms that can all interbreed among themselves and produce fertile offspring. This works pretty well for most animals, but terribly for plants and many animals. Plants that are quite different can interbreed frequently, but do not because they are isolated by things such as flowering time, pollinator species etc... Then you get into weird intransitivity issues such as: population A can breed with population B, population B can breed with population C, but A and C can't breed. These issues mean that a species is not a very well defined thing anymore. There have been many attempts to unify what we understand about the biology of reproductive isolation and genetic differentiation into one species concept, but we are left with many different "species concepts". I can't remember them all, but many are based genetic differentiation. It becomes crazy because under some gene-based concepts you could be defined as a species for one gene analysis and not another. There is a new idea which may have showed up on slashdot that is called the genetic bar code and those scientists believe that there is one (or just a few) genes where a specific amount of differentiation in this area will define a species. They predict that they can create a machine that you can just put tissue samples in and have a determination of what species it is within minutes. It is a controversial line of research, needless to say.

Racist animals

[CriminalNerd]

"The female Maasai giraffe may be looking at the male reticulated giraffe and thinking, 'I don't look like you; I don't want to mate with you'," Mr Brown explained.

So, in short...the giraffes are racists unless they live in a "multicultural" environment (ie: a zoo)?

Now, where have I heard that before?

in that case ...

[ThirdPrize]

the people of texas are a completely different species to the ones in New York and California.

Glen Quagmire....

[mikerubin]

Good Morning Baby..... ... ...
Hey wait a minute, you're not the same giraffe from last night !

Re:Species or subspecies?

[Azzmodan]

That would make tigers and lions the same species, since there have been fertile offspring. I'd say there's a lot wiggle room in the definition.