Scientific commentary
Teaching Motion Sensors to Recognise a Giraffe’s Day
A movement record becomes a behaviour record only after researchers establish what its patterns mean—and test whether that meaning travels between animals.
Giraffe research, explained.Page 15
The questions, fieldwork and discoveries behind giraffe science. Each story explains an original study, what it found and what remains uncertain.
Research stories
127–135 of 179 stories
Scientific commentary
The Two Resting Windows in a Wild Giraffe’s Night
An observer losing sight of a herd around midnight could miss the second half of a repeating nighttime pattern.
Scientific commentary
What Changed When Four Giraffes Moved Indoors?
Indoor winter housing changed several parts of daily life at once. Following the same giraffes showed why the answer depended on the measure.
Scientific commentary
The Growth Clocks Hidden Inside a Giraffe Tooth
A tooth keeps several records at once. Reading them requires distinguishing a day of enamel growth from the much finer marks formed within it.
Scientific commentary
Can One Neck Bone Reconstruct an Extinct Giraffe?
The name of an extinct giraffe rests on one neck bone. Other fossils assigned to it do not all point to the same-sized animal.
Scientific commentary
The time it takes a giraffe’s nerves to respond
Long legs extend the journey for a nerve signal. Bigger muscles add a second source of waiting.
Scientific commentary
How a Giraffe’s Digestive System Changes as It Grows
A larger giraffe has a larger digestive system, but its stomach and intestines do not simply expand in the same proportions.
Scientific commentary
The Complex Sugars Found in a Giraffe’s Milk
Milk contains more than its main sugar, lactose. Identifying the smaller carbohydrate fraction opens a new question about what a giraffe calf receives.
Scientific commentary
Giraffes With Diarrhoea Had Different Gut Microbes
Looking beyond a single suspect germ revealed a change across the microbial community, with bacteria and fungi telling different parts of the story.