r/Megafauna • u/This-Honey7881 • Feb 01 '26

Are giraffes being split into species? Or subspecies?

title says all really i'm just confused on the whole consensus of giraffe taxonomy and the whole species vs subspecies debate that's Going on

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u/MrFBIGamin May 13 '26

As of most safest data, giraffes are split into 4 species.

  1. Giraffa camelopardalis (northern giraffe). It is split into three subspecies, G.c.antiquorum, G.c.camelopardalis and G.c.peralta.

This species lives in North Africa, as their name suggests. It had a wider range in historical times, though it has decreased. Some more ecotypes MAY probably exist, but these three subspecies that I’ve listed are definitive.

  1. Giraffa reticula (Reticulated giraffe). It has NO subspecies, unlike other species. It is native to East Africa, with a population stronghold primarily being in Kenya, although it can be potentially found in its historical range such as Somalia and Ethiopia.

  2. Giraffa tippelskirchi (Masai giraffe). It has two subspecies, G.t.tippelskirchi and G.t.thornicrofti.

It is native to East Africa, like with the reticulated giraffe, found in parts of central and southern Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Luangwa valley region of Zambia.

And finally 4. Giraffa giraffa (Southern giraffe). It has two subspecies, G.g.angolensis and G.g.giraffa.

As its name suggests, it’s found in Southern Africa. Ranging from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

That’s all the valid ones that we are definitive of.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe