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Giraffe Evolution: Two Popular Stories

The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is a marvelous animal, better known than its forest-dwelling relative the okapi and countless other charismatic artiodactyls in large part due to its proportions. As a result, there has been no shortage of speculation about the origins of the giraffe’s iconic neck. Making things up about giraffes is a well-established tradition: Timotheus of Gaza (~500 CE) reports that “the giraffe is an Indian animal; and it is born from the intercourse of different animals” (presumably a

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Jugular venous pooling during lowering of the head affects blood pressure of the anesthetized giraffe

How blood flow and pressure to the giraffe’s brain are regulated when drinking remains debated. We measured simultaneous blood flow, pressure, and cross-sectional area in the carotid artery and jugular vein of five anesthetized and spontaneously breathing giraffes. The giraffes were suspended in the upright position so that we could lower the head. In the upright position, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was 193 ± 11 mmHg (mean ± SE), carotid flow was 0.7 ± 0.2 l/min, and carotid cross-sectional area

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Exploring the connections between giraffe skin disease and lion predation

Rates at which predators encounter, hunt and kill prey are influenced by, among other things, the intrinsic condition of prey. Diseases can considerably compromise body condition, potentially weakening the ability of afflicted prey to avoid predation. Understanding predator–prey dynamics is particularly important when both species are threatened, as is the case with lions (Panthera leo) and giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis). Importantly, an emergent disease called giraffe skin disease (GSD) may affect predatory interactions of lions and giraffes. Hypotheses suggest that GSD

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Leaving by staying: Social dispersal in giraffes

Dispersal is a critical process that shapes the structure of wild animal populations. In species that form multi-level societies, natal dispersal might be social (associated with a  different social community while remaining near the natal area), spatial (moving away from the natal area while continuing to associate with the same community), or both social and spatial (associating with a different community and moving away from the natal area). For such species, classical spatial measures of dispersal, such as distance moved,

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A review of the social behaviour of the giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis: a misunderstood but socially complex species

1. Until around 2000, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis were believed to have no social structure. Despite a resurgence of interest in giraffe behaviour in around 2010, most studies are of isolated populations, making it difficult to draw general conclusions. Although it is now well established that giraffe social organisation is non-random, there is little consensus as to what influences preferred and avoided associations or the underpinning mechanisms. 2. We test two hypotheses: first, giraffe have a complex cooperative social system, exhibited

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Giraffa camelopardalis: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book), founded in 1964, is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. Giraffa camelopardalis – Provisionally listed as Least Concern as the species remains widespread, with a total population numbering more than 100,000 individuals. However, a recent preliminary population estimate suggests a decline in the total population has taken place which,

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Maternal Behaviour in Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Allomaternal care is one of the most interesting types of cooperation among females. Its most extreme form is allonursing, nursing of a non-filial young, which is still not completely understood, even though many hypotheses have been postulated. This type of cooperation among giraffes had not been expected for long time. This was based on the initial opinion that giraffes do not have social system and form only weak social bonds. However, my bachelor and master theses showed high occurrence of

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Gastrointestinal Parasites in Giraffes Kept in Zoological Gardens of the Czech Republic

Parasite prevalence was investigated in giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) housed in six major Czech zoological gardens: Zoo Ostrava, Zoo Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Zoo Liberec, Zoo Olomouc, Zoo Praha, and Zoo Plzeň. In autumn 2012 and in spring 2013, 120 faecal samples from 21 animals were examined using the McMaster egg counting technique. Propagative stages of three parasite groups were discovered, namely eggs of the nematodes of the order Strongylida (prevalence 25.8%), whipworms Trichuris spp. (prevalence 25%), and oocysts of the

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Comparison of comprehensive health score in North American housed giraffe and free-ranging giraffe from South Africa

As in humans, stress is evident in many animal species and has been correlated to disease prevalence; yet a value for reliable quantification of chronic stress is unestablished. During stressful events, allostasis, an adaptive process, is initiated by physiologic systems to maintain or reestablish homeostasis to protect an organism’s viability. Over time, the acclimation to frequent stress causes systematic dysregulation, leading to the phenomena of increased allostatic load. In recent studies, allostatic load has been assessed in animal species via

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Evaluation of somatotype in the reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) using three-dimensional laser measurement

The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is a difficult animal to keep in captivity as it has high mortality due to nutrition-related disorders, perhaps because the giraffe’s condition is difficult to evaluate. Image analysis techniques have recently become popular and may be useful for evaluating the giraffe’s somatotype. The present study aimed to evaluate the giraffe somatotype using a three-dimensional laser measurement device, and to examine the usefulness of this method. First, ten zoo staff members visually evaluated the somatotypes of three

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