@article{Petzold_Magnant_Edderai_Chardonnet_Rigoulet_Saint-Jalme_Hassanin_2020, title={First insights into past biodiversity of giraffes based on mitochondrial sequences from museum specimens}, url={https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/1065}, DOI={10.5852/ejt.2020.703}, abstractNote={<p>Intensified exploration of sub-Saharan Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries led to many newly described giraffe subspecies. Several populations described at that time are now extinct, which is problematic for a full understanding of giraffe taxonomy. In this study, we provide mitochondrial sequences for 41 giraffes, including 19 museum specimens of high importance to resolve giraffe taxonomy, such as Zarafa from Sennar and two giraffes from Abyssinia (subspecies <em>camelopardalis</em>), three of the first southern individuals collected by Levaillant and Delalande (subspecies <em>capensis</em>), topotypes of the former subspecies <em>congoensis</em> and <em>cottoni</em>, and giraffes from an extinct population in Senegal. Our phylogeographic analysis shows that no representative of the nominate subspecies <em>camelopardalis</em> was included in previous molecular studies, as Zarafa and two other specimens assigned to this taxon are characterized by a divergent haplogroup, that the former subspecies <em>congoensis</em> and <em>cottoni</em> should be treated as synonyms of <em>antiquorum</em>, and that the subspecies <em>angolensis</em> and <em>capensis</em> should be synonymized with <em>giraffa</em>, whereas the subspecies <em>wardi</em> should be rehabilitated. In addition, we found evidence for the existence of a previously unknown subspecies from Senegal (newly described in this study), which is now extinct. Based on these results, we propose a new classification of giraffes recognizing three species and 10 subspecies. According to our molecular dating estimates, the divergence among these taxa has been promoted by Pleistocene climatic changes resulting in either savannah expansion or the development of hydrographical networks (Zambezi, Nile, Lake Chad, Lake Victoria).</p> <p>A correction has been published: Petzold A., Magnant A.-S., Edderai D., Chardonnet B., Rigoulet J., Saint-Jalme M.&nbsp;&amp; Hassanin A. 2020. First insights into past biodiversity of giraffes based on mitochondrial sequences from museum specimens – Corrigendum. <em>European Journal of Taxonom</em>y 717: 1–2. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.717.1093">https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.717.1093</a></p>}, number={703}, journal={European Journal of Taxonomy}, author={Petzold, Alice and Magnant, Anne-Sophie and Edderai, David and Chardonnet, Bertrand and Rigoulet, Jacques and Saint-Jalme, Michel and Hassanin, Alexandre}, year={2020}, month={Aug.} }