Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Giraffes, Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

About Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Kingdom: Animals
Phylum: Chordates
Class: Mammals
Order: Even-toed Ungalates and Cetacean
Family: Giraffidae

Secretions repel insects, bacteria: giraffe

The skin and hair of giraffes may repel ticks, mosquitoes and bacteria via secreted chemical compounds, particularly indole, skatole, and p-cresol.

Maintain physical integrity > Protect from biotic factors > Animals

Maintain physical integrity > Protect from biotic factors > Microbes

"…two alkaloids, indole and 3-methylindole (skatole), are primarily responsible for the scent of the giraffe…Indole occurs naturally in the floral scent of jasmine, orange blossom and other flowers (Poucher, 1974). Indole and 3-methylindole have an intense faecal odour at high concentrations that becomes pleasant in very dilute solutions — both are used in perfumery (Poucher, 1974)…Many of these compounds may function as antimicrobial agents…The growth of two ubiquitous species of skin bacteria is inhibited by some of the giraffe-derived compounds…Another possible function of these compounds may be to repel ectoparasitic arthropods. Both indole and skatole were judged by Rudolfs (1922, 1930) to repel wildcaught mosquitoes (Aedes spp.) from the US, but quantitative results are needed to affirm this. A tick found in areas inhabited by giraffes, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, is repelled by p-cresol, one of the giraffe skin compounds…" (Wood and Weldon 2003:915-916)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
The Biomimicry Institute

Lifelists

Trips

Visits

2001-06-30

South Luangwa National Park, Zambia
2002-11-16

Mikumi National Park, Tanzania
2002-12-08

Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
2002-12-10

Moremi Game Reserve - Chief's Island, Botswana
2003-01-15

Etosha National Park, Namibia
2013-10-24

Nairobi National Park, Kenya
2013-10-25

Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya
2013-11-07

Lake Navaisha - South Shore, Kenya