Bryce Broadhead
Dr. Stofer
Thursday Class.
Contrary to my title the population didn't quadruple but our deeper knowledge of the species of giraffes did. In my article it discussed how through more advanced technology and a larger core sample for DNA testing scientists have found that there are four species contrary to the one we thought existed previously. A year ago we thought there was only one species of giraffe with 9 subspecies. The subspecies don't mate with each other however which is interesting as this leads to very distinct populations. Through this further research we have found that there are actually FOUR distinct species, with each having only two subspecies. From 9 subspecies to 8, while the population stayed the same, how is this possible? Through the genetic testing of skin tissue samples we found that two different species were actually genetically identical. I found this article most interesting mainly because it shows very well how little we actually know, and how much more we have to learn. If something this major can be discovered about giraffes, a species that has been in the scientific record for nearly 300 years, then imagine what we can learn about all the other species we currently know about. Leading to further thought in the realm of how little we actually know about ourselves,
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ReplyDeleteI can't believe that there are actually four different types of giraffes! I love giraffes! I'm going to have to research this topic more on my own. It is exciting that research on speciation and phylogeny is still being conducted on animals that we thought were well understood. I'm sure that continuing such research and drawing conclusions about different species will help us to better understand the evolutionary history of many more animals in the future.
ReplyDeleteHK
This is such a cool concept to learn about. Zoology is a subject that continues to fascinate me and its amazing to learn that things we think we have a good idea of keep on proving us wrong and teaching us more about the life on this Earth. The only question I have is why did it take scientist so long to discover that the 9 subspecies was only 8?
ReplyDelete-P.H.