Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology.
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 Gi...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315043 |
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| author | Nikolaos Kargopoulos Jesús Marugán-Lobón Anusuya Chinsamy Bernard R Agwanda Michael Butler Brown Stephanie Fennessy Sara Ferguson Rigardt Hoffman Fredrick Lala Arthur Muneza Ogeto Mwebi Moses Otiende Alice Petzold Sven Winter Abdoul Razack Moussa Zabeirou Julian Fennessy |
| author_facet | Nikolaos Kargopoulos Jesús Marugán-Lobón Anusuya Chinsamy Bernard R Agwanda Michael Butler Brown Stephanie Fennessy Sara Ferguson Rigardt Hoffman Fredrick Lala Arthur Muneza Ogeto Mwebi Moses Otiende Alice Petzold Sven Winter Abdoul Razack Moussa Zabeirou Julian Fennessy |
| author_sort | Nikolaos Kargopoulos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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 statistically significant cranial shape differences between all four Giraffa species, and in some cases also between subspecies of the same species. Our 3D morphometric analysis shows that the four genetically distinct Giraffa spp. also have distinct cranial morphologies, largely addressable to features of display (ossicones). Our results highlight the importance of focusing future giraffe conservation efforts on each taxon to maintain their unique characteristics and biodiversity in the wild. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-36aba0f3f1fa41efa15e9cb425730383 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-36aba0f3f1fa41efa15e9cb4257303832025-01-08T05:32:56ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011912e031504310.1371/journal.pone.0315043Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology.Nikolaos KargopoulosJesús Marugán-LobónAnusuya ChinsamyBernard R AgwandaMichael Butler BrownStephanie FennessySara FergusonRigardt HoffmanFredrick LalaArthur MunezaOgeto MwebiMoses OtiendeAlice PetzoldSven WinterAbdoul Razack Moussa ZabeirouJulian FennessyGiraffe (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 statistically significant cranial shape differences between all four Giraffa species, and in some cases also between subspecies of the same species. Our 3D morphometric analysis shows that the four genetically distinct Giraffa spp. also have distinct cranial morphologies, largely addressable to features of display (ossicones). Our results highlight the importance of focusing future giraffe conservation efforts on each taxon to maintain their unique characteristics and biodiversity in the wild.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315043 |
| spellingShingle | Nikolaos Kargopoulos Jesús Marugán-Lobón Anusuya Chinsamy Bernard R Agwanda Michael Butler Brown Stephanie Fennessy Sara Ferguson Rigardt Hoffman Fredrick Lala Arthur Muneza Ogeto Mwebi Moses Otiende Alice Petzold Sven Winter Abdoul Razack Moussa Zabeirou Julian Fennessy Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology. PLoS ONE |
| title | Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology. |
| title_full | Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology. |
| title_fullStr | Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology. |
| title_short | Heads up-Four Giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology. |
| title_sort | heads up four giraffa species have distinct cranial morphology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315043 |
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