Seeing spots: quantifying mother-offspring similarity and assessing fitness consequences of coat pattern traits in a wild population of giraffes ( Giraffa camelopardalis )

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5690

Research by

Derek Lee, Douglas R. Cavener, Monica L. Bond

Links standardized photographic coat-pattern measurements to mother–offspring resemblance and first-season apparent survival in a longitudinal study of wild Masai giraffes.

Publication details

Study facts

Method
Photographic phenotype measurement, parent–offspring regression and capture–mark–recapture apparent-survival modelling.
Location
Wild giraffes in the Tarangire ecosystem, Tanzania.
Species
Masai giraffe, reported as Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchii.
Sample
31 mother–calf pairs; survival analysis of 258 calves including those offspring; eleven measured coat traits.
Period
Photographic surveys from January 2012 to February 2016.

Full citation

Derek Lee, Douglas R. Cavener, Monica L. Bond (2018). Seeing spots: quantifying mother-offspring similarity and assessing fitness consequences of coat pattern traits in a wild population of giraffes ( Giraffa camelopardalis ). PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5690

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