Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan; Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; IUCN, Species Survival Commission, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group.
P. O. Box 33, Mfuwe, Zambia.
Curr Biol. 2017 Feb 20;27(4):R136-R137. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.039.
In a recent paper in Current Biology, Fennessy and colleagues [1] conclude that there are four species of giraffe and that their numbers are declining in Africa. Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are presently classified as one species, with nine subspecies, which are considered 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List [2]. The present consensus of one species divided into nine subspecies has previously been questioned (Supplemental information), and Fennessy and colleagues [1] provide another viewpoint on giraffe taxonomy. The fundamental reason for different taxonomic interpretations is that they are based upon different datasets that adopt different statistical techniques and follow different criteria for nomenclature.
在最近发表于《当代生物学》的一篇论文中，芬尼西及其同事[1]得出结论，长颈鹿共有四个物种，且它们在非洲的数量正在减少。长颈鹿（Giraffa camelopardalis）目前被归类为一个物种，有九个亚种，被 IUCN 红色名录[2]列为“易危”。此前，人们对一个物种分为九个亚种的共识提出了质疑（补充信息），而芬尼西及其同事[1]对长颈鹿的分类学提供了另一种观点。不同分类解释的根本原因是它们基于不同的数据集，这些数据集采用不同的统计技术，并遵循不同的命名规范标准。
