Giraffes have a brown-and-white pattern that’s easy to recognize. But look closely and you’ll notice the spots are not exactly the same from giraffe to giraffe. Spots can be dark or pale, smooth-edged or jagged, large or small.
Each giraffe’s coat is unique—just like a human fingerprint, says Derek Lee. He’s a biologist at Penn State University who studies giraffes. Scientists like Lee use the animals’ distinctive patterns to identify individuals in the wild.
Back in 2011, Lee wanted to know why spot patterns varied among giraffes of the same species. He suspected that a giraffe’s spot pattern is an inherited trait. That’s a characteristic determined by DNA, material inside cells passed down from parents to offspring.
To figure out if he was correct, Lee needed to observe giraffe families in the wild. So he and his research partner, Monica Bond, traveled to a place that’s home to thousands of giraffes: the East African country of Tanzania.
Giraffes have a brown-and-white pattern. It’s easy to recognize. But look closely. You’ll notice the spots aren’t exactly the same from giraffe to giraffe. Spots can be dark or pale. They can be smooth-edged or jagged. They can be large or small.
Each giraffe’s coat is unique. It’s just like a human fingerprint, says Derek Lee. He’s a biologist who studies giraffes. He works at Penn State University. Scientists like Lee use the animals’ patterns to identify individuals in the wild.
Lee had a question about spot patterns back in 2011. He wanted to know why they differed among giraffes of the same species. He thought a giraffe’s spot pattern might be an inherited trait. That’s a feature produced by a creature’s DNA. It’s the material inside cells passed down from parents to their children.
Lee needed to observe giraffes in the wild to see if he was right. He teamed up with another researcher, Monica Bond. They traveled to Tanzania. It’s a country in East Africa. It’s home to thousands of giraffes.