The color of a male giraffe’s spots may reveal insights on its behavior, new research suggests. As scientists led by Madelaine Castles of Australia’s University of Queensland report in the journal Animal Behaviour, dark-furred giraffes tend to be both more dominant and solitary than their lighter-hued counterparts.
These findings, based on a survey of 66 males living in Namibia’s Etosha National Park over a 12-year period, contradict previous research associating darker coloring with advanced age rather than social status.
Per Cosmos’ Tanya Loos, the latest study—drawing on 1,793 photographs and calculations of gregariousness versus sociability, as represented by time spent alone or within a group—supports the idea that most giraffes’ spots darken over time but identifies significant exceptions to this trend.