--- title: Giraffes Are Four Separate Species, Researchers Discover description: Through genetic analysis of giraffes, scientists discovered that the animal is actually at least four separate species rather than just one canonical: https://time.com/4485705/giraffes-species-study/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-09T18:16:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:30:18.827Z article:section: Science og:title: Researchers Discover Giraffes Are Actually Four Separate Species og:description: The finding may impact conservation efforts of the species og:url: https://time.com/4485705/giraffes-species-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68b1d6c3e5da058f/698893a3524fc0defadf808e/giraffe-photo-long-necks.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5160 og:image:height: 2903 og:image:alt: giraffe photo long necks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers Discover Giraffes Are Actually Four Separate Species twitter:description: The finding may impact conservation efforts of the species twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68b1d6c3e5da058f/698893a3524fc0defadf808e/giraffe-photo-long-necks.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Researchers Discover Giraffes Are Actually Four Separate Species > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 9, 2016 6:16 PM UTC  The Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian national park in the Serengeti ecosystem in Mara Region. It is famous for its annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded wildebeest and 250,000 zebra and for its numerous Nile crocodile The Serengeti National Park is a Tanzanian national park in the Serengeti ecosystem in Mara Region. It is famous for its annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded wildebeest and 250,000 zebra and for its numerous Nile crocodileGetty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 9, 2016 6:16 PM UTC Through genetic analysis of giraffes, scientists discovered that [the animal is actually at least four separate species](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/09/09/giraffes-arent-just-giraffes-turns-out-there-are-four-species/) rather than just one, which may change conservation efforts of the animal. Findings published Thursday in _Current Biology_ point out that instead of the single species _Giraffa camelopardalis_, the genus _Giraffa_ contains multiple species, the [Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/09/09/giraffes-arent-just-giraffes-turns-out-there-are-four-species/). These new species aren’t unknown populations of giraffes, but rather populations that were categorized as subspecies of the _Giraffa camelopadalis_ based on minor differences such as coat. Dividing the giraffe into separate species may change the animals [conservation](http://time.com/4475151/president-obama-conservation-lake-tahoe-summit/) status with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, according to the _Post_. The [giraffe](http://time.com/4088776/baby-giraffe-baby-elephant-best-friends/) is currently listed as a species of “least concern” but with four distinct species it may be possible that some or all of the animals could be listed as endangered. After studying more than 200 samples of [giraffe](http://time.com/4043387/giraffes-sound-hum/) DNA, researchers believe that these unique species of giraffe last shared a common ancestor about 1.5 million to 2 million years ago. \[[_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/09/09/giraffes-arent-just-giraffes-turns-out-there-are-four-species/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4485705/giraffes-species-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4485705/giraffes-species-study/"},"headline":"Researchers Discover Giraffes Are Actually Four Separate Species","datePublished":"2016-09-09T18:16:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:30:18.827Z","description":"The finding may impact conservation efforts of the species","url":"https://time.com/4485705/giraffes-species-study/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68b1d6c3e5da058f/698893a3524fc0defadf808e/giraffe-photo-long-necks.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68b1d6c3e5da058f/698893a3524fc0defadf808e/giraffe-photo-long-necks.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"giraffe photo long necks","caption":"giraffe photo long necks","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4485705/giraffes-species-study/","name":"Researchers Discover Giraffes Are Actually Four Separate Species"}}]}] ```