Masai Giraffe Spot Pattern Data for Viability Selection Analysis

Metadata for data supporting a 2026 Journal of Applied Ecology study on viability selection in Masai giraffes. The dataset, authored by Alexia Mouchet, is a 10.2 KB Excel file published on figshare. It contains information used to reproduce analyses correlating coat spot patterns with temperature anomalies.

Use Cases

• Reproducing ecological analyses based on giraffe spot pattern data.
• Investigating correlations between animal coat patterns and environmental temperature anomalies.
• Studying viability selection in a large mammal species.
• Conducting meta-analyses on phenotypic trait data from published studies.

Strengths

• Data is directly linked to a peer-reviewed journal article (Journal of Applied Ecology, 2026).
• Published under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse.
• File size is small (10.2 KB), ensuring quick download and inspection.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Alexia Mouchet.

Collection Method

Data provided to reproduce analyses from a published ecological study.

Time Range

Implied by the 2026 publication date; specific temporal coverage of underlying data is unknown.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-15 10:35:08; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Focus is on Masai giraffes; specific geographic location is not detailed in the provided metadata.