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Supplement on the paper of: Extensive population genetic structure in the giraffe.

Brown et al. (pp. 63/64, if I counted correctly, – the page numbers on the PDF of the paper are “not for citation puposes”) suggest “that the giraffe might represent more than one species” and that their results and arguments “support viewing the giraffe as containing multiple distinct species rather than a single polymorphic form. Reciprocal monophyly in mtDNA sequences and nearly absolute partitioning in microsatellite data support minimally six species, corresponding to Giraffa peralta, G. rothschildii, G. reticulata, G.

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Monitoring Giraffe Behavior in Thermal Video

We present a solution for monitoring nocturnal giraffe behavior by reducing several hours of thermal camera surveillance footage into a short video summary which can be reviewed by experts. We formulate the video summarization task as a tracking problem: frames in which giraffes are successfully tracked are presumed to be typical poses/behaviors and not included in the summary; whereas frames containing track initializations or terminations are presumed to be atypical events and are therefore included in the summary. To implement

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Umbrella species: critique and lessons from East Africa

Umbrella species are ‘species with large area requirements, which if given sufficient protected habitat area, will bring many other species under protection’. Historically, umbrella species were employed to delineate specific reserve boundaries but are now used in two senses: (1) as aids to identifying areas of species richness at a large geographic scale; (2) as a means of encompassing populations of co-occuring species at a local scale. In the second sense, there is a dilemma as to whether to maximize

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Seasonal Diet and Prey Preference of the African Lion in a Waterhole-Driven Semi-Arid Savanna

Large carnivores inhabiting ecosystems with heterogeneously distributed environmental resources with strong seasonal variations frequently employ opportunistic foraging strategies, often typified by seasonal switches in diet. In semi-arid ecosystems, herbivore distribution is generally more homogeneous in the wet season, when surface water is abundant, than in the dry season when only permanent sources remain. Here, we investigate the seasonal contribution of the different herbivore species, prey preference and distribution of kills (i.e. feeding locations) of African lions in Hwange National Park,

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The demography of giraffe deaths in a drought

Darwin’s theory for the evolution of the long neck of giraffes is that height confers access to browse free of competition from smaller browsers. The theory predicts that survivors of a drought will be the tallest animals in a population. All studies so far have tested this hypothesis by analysis of feeding patterns and behaviour. We have studied it by analysing the demography of deaths in a drought. Using skeletal material from 26 giraffes that died as a result of

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Addressing management questions for Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, using the Savanna modelling system

Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), in northern Tanzania, is a multiple-use area of importance to Maasai pastoralists and wildlife conservation. We adapted the SAVANNA modelling system to the NCA, creating an Integrated Management and Assessment System that allows users to assess responses to alternative management actions. We used the system to conduct fifteen experiments reflecting potential management questions. Results suggest that: the distribution of rainfall throughout the year may have a greater impact on the ecosystem than its quantity; cattle may

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Effects of natural and simulated herbivory on spine lengths of Acacia drepanolobium in Kenya

We present experimental evidence supporting the hypothesis that increased spine length in acacia species is a defense induced by herbivory. Acacia drepanolobium is the dominant tree over large areas of East Africa. Each individual tree is occupied by one of four ant species at our study site. Using two types of electric fences, we have effectively controlled herbivory by megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes) and other large mammalian herbivores at a field site in Laikipia, Kenya since 1995. Mean spine lengths

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Enamel hypoplasia provides insights into early systemic stress in wild and captive giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Enamel hypoplasia, a developmental tooth defect, provides a permanent record of systemic stress during early life. The incidence and distribution of linear enamel hypoplasia has been used by anthropologists and palaeontologists to assess the health status of past populations but has not been applied by wildlife biologists studying extant animals. This study investigates enamel hypoplasia in 23 Giraffa camelopardalis skulls from wild and captive animals of various ages and sex to determine whether any systemic stress events are unique to

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Umbilical cord stump retention and age estimation of newborn giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)

The umbilical cord stump is a conspicuous characteristic used to identify recently born giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) (Foster & Dagg, 1972; Langman, 1977; Leuthold & Leuthold, 1978; Pratt & Anderson, 1979; Pellew, 1981; Dagg & Foster, 1982). However, there is surprising disagreement over the length of time that the umbilical stump remains attached, with reports varying from about 4 weeks (Pellew, 1981; Serengeti, Tanzania: subsp. tippelskirchi) to 6 weeks (Leuthold & Leuthold, 1978; Tsavo East, Kenya: subsp. tippelskirchi) to 60 days

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The remarkable anatomy of the giraffe’s neck

Mammalian cervical vertebrae 6 and 7 and thoracic vertebra 1 possess many distinguishing characteristics. In the giraffe, bone morphology, muscle origins and insertions, as well as the location of the brachial plexus (described as many osteological and some soft tissue characters) are identical to those in other mammals but are all displaced posteriorly by one vertebra. There are two exceptions to these observations: the pre-sacral vertebral count is unchanged when compared with that in the okapi and C7 supports the

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