The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe. "Camelopard" is an archaic English name for the giraffe; it derives from the Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis), from κάμηλος (kámēlos), "camel", and πάρδαλις (párdalis), "leopard", referring to its camel-like shape and leopard-like colouration. ==Taxonomy== Living giraffes were originally classified as one species by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
Morten Thrane Brünnich classified the genus Giraffa in 1762.
During the 1900s, various taxonomies with 2 or 3 species were proposed.
attica, also extinct, was formerly considered part of Giraffa but was reclassified as Bohlinia attica in 1929. There are also seven extinct species of giraffe, listed as the following: †Giraffa gracilis †Giraffa jumae †Giraffa priscilla †Giraffa punjabiensis †Giraffa pygmaea †Giraffa sivalensis †Giraffa stillei ==Appearance and anatomy== Fully grown giraffes stand tall, with males taller than females.
In 2001, a two-species taxonomy was proposed.
A 2007 study on the genetics of giraffes, suggested six species.
More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010. ==Etymology== The name "giraffe" has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word (زرافة), perhaps borrowed from the animal's Somali name geri.
A 2011 study using detailed analyses of the morphology of giraffes, and application of the phylogenetic species concept, described eight species of living giraffes.
Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves but estimates as of 2016 indicate that there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild.
A 2016 study also concluded that living giraffes consist of multiple species.
Since then, a response to this publication has been published, highlighting seven problems in data interpretation, and concludes "the conclusions should not be accepted unconditionally". A 2020 study showed that depending on the method chosen, different taxonomic hypotheses recognizing from two to six species can be considered for the genus Giraffa.
A 2021 whole genome sequencing study suggests the existence of four distinct species and seven subspecies. G.
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