HOME | DD
namu-the-orca — Giraffe subspecies
Published: 2014-04-05 14:27:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 32779; Favourites: 310; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
Species depicted: Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)Time taken: about 10-15 hours
References used: from all over google, though none specifically
Tools of the trade: Photoshop CS5
Commission for an off-deviantart client.
Here's some giraffes I finished a couple of weeks ago. The only real premise was 'giraffe' but I thought it'd be cool to show the subspecies as well, just because there's such a big variety between them. The names are in Dutch here, but in English they are, from left to right: Thornicroft's giraffe, Reticulated giraffe (two colour morphs) and West African giraffe. It's not all of them yet, there's six more! However I decided to pick some really different looking ones - the difference between some other subspecies isn't as clear. Even though I've been doodling giraffes for a long time I never actually sat down and really taken the time to draw them, so this was definitely a learning experience. They've got really weird anatomy by the way, but with the spots on you don't notice it too much. Take away the 'spots' layer in photoshop and they look kinda bizarre haha. Hope you enjoy!
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
All submissions in this gallery, be it photos, paintings or drawings, are copyrighted to me, Namu-the-orca. No one has the right to alter, distribute, copy or use my art without my written permission unless stated otherwise. My submissions are NOT stock
Related content
Comments: 60
This is going to be tremendously helpful in designing my brand's mascot excellent work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That's wonderful to hear, thank you!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
In scale? I never saw evidence for that much size difference.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes, these are to scale 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is great work! I was thinking of possibly requesting a commission from you to do members of the genus Canis,+/- some pariah type dog breeds, to scale.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you! That definitely sounds like an interesting commission. I haven't done many canids recently, but I do love their looks, especially those of the wild living species and the more natural-looking breeds. Let me know if/when you've made up your mind
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Giraffes seems to made for laughs. They are some of the silliest creatures on the planet.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
They certainly aren't 'ordinary' looking, but then again, what is? I actually think they're extremely graceful animals, not all that silly
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Great work with the intricate detail!
Giraffes are my favourite animal XD I'm always delighted to find someone else who not only likes giraffes but has awareness that they're not all the same! My favourite subspecies is the Baringo/ Rothschild’s Giraffe (Giraffe camelopardalis rothschildi). They are so genetically distinct from other giraffes that they could be their own species, and if they were recognised as such, they would be one of few species that were rarer than the giant panda.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you! So cool to hear you love giraffes, they're definitely loveable animals, very graceful too 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
<3 Giraffes are the best <3 Although it can be a pain at times the surprise, though it is the surprise that makes learning thoroughly enjoyable 
Identification is difficult. Even completely distinct species in the same family have markings that are difficult to tell apart (like zebras and loads of insects), so it's no surprise that distinguishing between subspecies (like giraffes) would prove challenging. Having individual variations between giraffes doesn't help, either!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Learning new stuff is super cool indeed. And glass is actually a liquid? :0 You know, actually I think I read that before (but forgot since) because the story of stained glass being thicker at the bottom sounds vaguely familiar. Does that also go for 'regular' glass like the stuff we have in our windows? Can't say I notice it being thicker at the bottom here. Then again, the difference may be so small it's hard to notice.
Oh definitely, it's ridiculous how much of a headache two, three or more incredibly similar species can be when you're trying to identify who's who. Even more so when they are not even closely related, but just happen to look alike thanks to convergent evolution : P On that note, it's quite interesting how sometimes distinct species, even distantly related ones, can sometimes look more like each other than different subspecies within a species. It seems so counter-intuitive! But take for example the Emerald tree boa snakebuddies.files.wordpress.c… and the Green tree python www.animalsplannet.com/wp-cont… . Only distantly related, but sometimes near impossible to tell apart in captive setting. At the other end of the spectrum: the ariel toucan upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… and the culminatus one upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… both subspecies of the Channel-billed toucan. Wonderfull mind boggling
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
As far as I'm aware, it happens to all glass, though it does take a very long time (stained glass windows in which the thicker bottoms are noticeable have been around for hundreds of years) to do so: considerably more time than we keep a pane of glass in its frame.
Evolution is a wonderful process
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Oh gosh, my terrestrial loves! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ohhh yay another giraffe-loving person! Awesome you got to work with them, and that they were such darlings. The closest I've been to a giraffe was in a zoo where they could reach over the fence towards the visitors - it's been the only time in my life I ever pet a giraffe and oh what cuties they all were. I can imagine working with them must be grand
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
There was one giraffe named Bo who would follow me from one end of the exhibit to the other. I'd call his name and he'd come over...he wanted food! Naturally I never gave any to him, that's up to the actual keepers, though they did let me give him treats when he was in the giraffe house. He would lean his neck over the bars above me and long strings of drool would drop on my head. Yuck! Hahahaha. I did kiss him on the lip an awful lot. 
Also that is very true about not acknowledging subspecies of animals like birds - I never thought about that! People are just very fond of mammals I guess, haha.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Sorry for late reply; catching up to old messages in me inbox
People indeed seem to like mammals more than birds in general, but the smaller number of mammal species must also make things easier. With 10000 bird species in the world it's hard to get around to every one of them. I'll always be amazed by the sheer number of subspecies for some though. You've got birds with maybe two or three subspecies, some with seven or ten, but there was this tiny, nondescript brown bird I came across on the internet which had 32 subspecies - ridiculous
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Sadly I don't have time to do stuff at the zoo anymore. I actually haven't been in a few months, and it breaks my heart. I'm working two jobs so it makes things difficult. I'm hopefully going next week to give a talk to campers about polar bears, though!
32 subspecies?!?! That is indeed ridiculous! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Too bad you can't go by there anymore, but so cool you can come to give a talk! Have you already been there to do that? If so, how'd it go? And what kind of stuff do you tell to campers? Safety measures when going camping up north or so?
There's more! Because of this little convo I decided to look up the animal species with the most subspecies, and while there's bound to be some obscure insect or so which can top all others, for now I found the humble Red fox, with 45 subspecies XD Although it's hardly surprising, when you have a versatile species with worldwide range. The interesting thing about the little bird with 32 subspecies was that its range was rather restricted, at least not cosmopolitan (and that all subspecies looked the same to me haha)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Whoa! I need to look up more about red fox subspecies. xD
I tell them about how I attended Polar Bears International's leadership camp, and about polar bears/the arctic ecosystem in general. Then I talk about climate change and what they can do to help stop it. It went well...in fact, that was probably the most interactive camp I've ever spoken to! I'm going to probably give another talk to campers next week. It's fun! (Also I'm determined to volunteer again next summer but I don't know if I should return to Glacier Run with the bears, pinnipeds, and Amur tigers or the giraffe area, where we have most of the ungulates.)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ahhh so it's really an awareness/conservation talk - I thought it was about camper safety from Polar Bears haha XD But great to hear it went so well; it's one thing giving a talk to people, it's something else altogether giving a talk to people who are actually curious and interested. Touch choice about where to return for volunteering. Bears and Amur tigers are awesome, but I guess you could get a little more hands-on with the ungulates.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'm probably gonna cave and go with my beloved bears - it brings me joy to be anywhere near them! Plus I get to be a bit interactive with the pinnipeds.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Great work! Giraffes also vary individually. Over here, the bulls darken as they age, sometimes being almost completely black! Also the skull grows ... your Thornicroft's Giraffe looks like an old bull, very dark with heavy bone growth over the eyes. I've also seen in some Western African giraffes, the front horn, the one in front of the eyes, grows quite long. Also there are giraffes that develop a second pair of horns behind the main pair, so they can have five 'horns' in total. These are called ossicones, not the same as antelope horns.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks Willem! Yeah, I hadn't put it in the description here but I'd definitely aimed for the Thornicroft's to be an old lad - not only do they have the best black spots but they also look incredibly ancient and wise with those downcurved faces
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hi again! Yes, the second pair of horns are those bumps, you don't see them easily because they're between the ears, but here is a photo, of a west African giraffe incidentally, where you can see it well:
www.awf.org/projects/west-afri…
I can imagine if evolution continues some giraffes might end up with quite prominent rear horns, and front horn too ... perhaps more than one front horn as well since so much bone growth happens there.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ah yep, indeed the horns I meant
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You only need to avoid dying for the next couple of million years.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmn. I'm afraid turning into an immortal jellyfish (yes, that's a legit animal) and not encountering a hungry sea turtle on the way would be the only option then..
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
They look so amazing Namu! Giraffes are one of my favorite animals, by the way, so I was really excited to see this XD
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much goose! Oh what coincidence, how cool that they're some of your faves - glad I could deliver a couple of giraffes to your inbox ;D
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It was definitely a treat haha. They're gorgeous
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I think you did a fantastic job. Ungulates are difficult subjects.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you! Ungulates indeed are hard, especially when you're used to cetaceans and birds haha. Was cool to try my hand at these, though
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You're welcome
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Yeah, there's lots! They can be pretty hard to tell apart though, going on colour alone - the animals I showed here are pretty 'perfect' examples of the subspecies and they may look rather more alike (one of the reasons I didn't include the other subspecies as well haha). Always cool to learn something new about other animals!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'm embarrassed, I didn't even know that there are different Giraffe subspecies! And I thought I knew something about animals
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
Heyy, always something new to learn! Lots of animals have subspecies, especially birds - I once came upon this wiki page of a really small, drab, boring bird and it had like 37 subspecies
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yep, sometimes subspecies look very different from each other and sometimes they are almost identical
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh going to Africa is definitely something I can recommend, as long as it's safe! I've been there for the first time myself last year, to Kenya (well, I'd been in Africa before, but that was in Egypt and we were mainly there to dive, so not exactly the cliche safaris and big game back there). It'was absolutely amazing to see all those animals, we saw Giraffes and Zebra - no rhinos, but plenty other amazing wildlife to make up for that
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh, I've been to Egypt too! How could I forget that? We were in Hurghada diving but also went to Luxor to see Valley of Kings and Karnak.
My aunt has traveled a lot and she has been chased by an angry rhino in Africa 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Haha, somehow Egypt just doesn't really feel like part of Africa in the stereotypical sense of the word I'm afraid. Oh wow, even though being attacked by a rhino is not a recommended vacation activity, it is quite a tale to tell! :0 I hope you'll get a chance to travel to Sub-saharan Africa, it's really amazing. Also, Amur leopards are gorgeous, so have fun with seeing those at the zoo as well
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
| Next =>