Giraffes Have Been Misunderstood and Are Just as Socially Complex as Elephants, Study Says (cnn.com) 31
An anonymous reader shares a report: With their crane-like necks, spindle legs and knobbly knees, giraffes are among the best loved and most recognizable of animals. Despite their elevated stature, however, giraffes have kept their surprisingly intricate social behavior under wraps. Once perceived as humble creatures that focused solely on feeding their majestic bodies, one book from 1991 described the giraffe as "socially aloof, forming no lasting bonds with its fellows and associating in the most casual way."
But new research from the University of Bristol, published Tuesday in the journal Mammal Review, suggests giraffes have been misunderstood and are in fact a highly complex and social species. The most surprising thing for me is that it has taken until 2021 to recognize that giraffes have a complex social system. We have known for decades about other species of socially complex mammal, such as elephants, primates and cetaceans, but it is baffling to me how such a charismatic and well-known species as the giraffe could have been so understudied until recently," said Zoe Muller, study author and biologist at the University Of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences.
But new research from the University of Bristol, published Tuesday in the journal Mammal Review, suggests giraffes have been misunderstood and are in fact a highly complex and social species. The most surprising thing for me is that it has taken until 2021 to recognize that giraffes have a complex social system. We have known for decades about other species of socially complex mammal, such as elephants, primates and cetaceans, but it is baffling to me how such a charismatic and well-known species as the giraffe could have been so understudied until recently," said Zoe Muller, study author and biologist at the University Of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences.
It's okay my big giraffe friends (Score:3)
overfocus on diffs = ignoring simularities (Score:2)
It happens with people where we overfocus on differences between us and others with some different physical trait, and then, suddenly, we forget about the 99% of them that is the same or similar...
If people do it with people, how can we hope to not do it with animals/
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That's an interesting take because I find it the opposite -- I find official assimilation policies cause a focus on differences because those are what is to be eliminated, and a de-emphasis on sameness because there's nothing to assimilate there. Whereas multiculturalism says let's acknowledge it and let it all slide on by. It's not like individuals who have differences from the mainstream culture aren't already aware of them, but when you say to celebrate those differences then you don't need to spend me
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What he meant was almost certainly the right wing idea that focusing on diversity leads to "those people" feeling aggrieved and complaining, whereas if they just sat down, shut up, and tried to act like their social betters, everything would be peachy-keen.
It's just another dog whistle.
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LOL. Nice try. I'm quoting what I have heard right wingers say to me about minorities. I thought about clarifying when I wrote it but I (wrongly) thought "No one can be that dense."
Ah, you said todays magic word, "woke!" Now we all know I'm right about you.
So, funny old thing, you did not actually explain what you meant. Go ahead! The floor is yours. What "shit" is going on, hmmm? Imaginary riots by antifa, LOL?
Yeah. Thought so.
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Have you used equally strong terms to condemn the right wing conspiracy theorists?
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I'd have to say that minorities focusing on differences may not be entirely out of place, since our legal/penal system seems to "coincidentally" been "sculpted" in the past 50 years or more to affect minorities much more so than well-off white people. Nixon specifically went after pot and psychedelics to target those who were protesting against the war. When the war was ongoing and the draft was still active, violators of various laws were given the choice of jail or going to Vietnam, which was more often
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Indeed. The differences are that the deck is stacked for certain people, and not for others. That's worth focusing on.
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And it also means giraffes have one of the biggest errors in evolution that's never been corrected. The left recurrent laryngeal nerve [wikipedia.org] runs from the brain (via the vagus nerve) down to the heart, threads through the aorta, and back up through the neck.
It's a rather circuitous route for a nerve that effective runs from the brain to the throat. It's like seeing a package you send travel across the country just to be delivered the next city over.
In most mammals it's just a mere annoyance having a nerve run dow
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giraffes have one of the biggest errors in evolution
The appendix [wikipedia.org] was so named because at one time people thought it was an evolutionary relic with no current function.
Now, of course, we think the appendix serves a very important purpose.
So while you label this nerve's path an 'error', I don't necessarily agree. If we knew so little about giraffes' social structure, how much less do we really understand about their anatomy?
Tall, skinny, dorky, and ignored (Score:4, Informative)
I can relate
Re: Tall, skinny, dorky, and ignored (Score:2)
They're very simple (Score:3)
Giraffes have long necks because they have been stretching out since childhood to reach leaves on tall trees.
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Lamarck has been dead since 1829 and he is posting from his grave in slash dot!
Not too surprising (Score:3, Informative)
It isn't too surprising that people haven't figured this stuff out yet. Once a preconception gets stuck in people's heads, it can be very difficult to get it out. They'll wear conceptual blinders that keep them from seeing evidence that contradicts their beliefs, and they'll interpret ambiguous evidence in ways that confirm them. Add to it that we just don't have as much observation of wild animals as people think we do, and it's not hard to believe that we could miss out on something like this.
After all, we have missed out on things relating to animals we know much, much better than giraffes. Consider cats, for example. We have far more observational data on cats than giraffes, and it's far easier to perform experiments on them. But people continue to repeat the same old misconceptions about cats being aloof loners even though there's tons of evidence they have their own complex social networks. People just have an idea of what sociability in animals looks like, and they miss out when they see something different.
Re: Not too surprising (Score:2)
And giraffes will not claw your curtains or try to trip you by laying on the stairs. I am all for pet giraffes.
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Tell me about it. Raccoons are common as dirt in North America, but people still believe they are exclusively solitary animals who hunt for food only at night, and if seen during the day they must be sick. Tell that to people who have had their dumpster raided by two dozen raccoons in broad daylight. I think it wasn't until the 70's when serious research showed unrelated raccoon families socialize and share territories.
Frankly, I think this is just another case of humans thinking they have a monopoly on
One-sided (Score:2)
Once perceived as humble creatures that focused solely on feeding their majestic bodies, one book from 1991 described the giraffe as "socially aloof, forming no lasting bonds with its fellows and associating in the most casual way."
Someone check and see if the book author was a guy.
They can bully deer (Score:2)
Might be a social thing when they bully deer. Is this common? If you have ever seen them mix with deer where visitors feed them all from up close... you might notice the giants will knock a deer away from the food/people area with a slow yet painful looking full of inertia front leg-knee. The deer become very skittish around those types. I saw this happen once at least, and I think it was the biggest giraffe there, so likely a big "mean" male.
I've also noticed deer that are habituated with people feeding th
Don't look down on Giraffes (Score:2)
As if you could.
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Enjoy while you can (Score:2)
So, the global population of giraffes is less than the human population of Duluth, Minnesota. And if you're middle-aged, they're half-way to extinction compared to when you were a kid, after surviving for 25 million years.
Giraffe-like necks (Score:2)
Cause ... (Score:2)
Likely because they are not good eating.
I've loved giraffes ever since (Score:2)
I've loved giraffes ever since one came into the bar and said "The high balls are on me."
Idiots (Score:2)
Speak for yourself (Score:1)