Population genetic

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.[28] That study also found that multi-species coalescent methods can lead to taxonomic over-splitting

, as those methods delimit geographic structures rather than species. The three-species hypothesis, which recognises G. camelopardalis, G. giraffa, and G. tippelskirchi, is highly supported by phylogenetic analyses and also corroborated by most population genetic and multi-species coalescent analyses.[28] A 2021 whole genome sequencing study suggests the existence of four distinct species and seven subspecies.[29]

G. 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