Scientists discover new Gal谩pagos tortoise species, the first in a century
Genetic testing has revealed that what was thought to be a single tortoise聽species inhabiting the ecologically rich archipelago are actually two species.
Genetic testing has revealed that what was thought to be a single tortoise聽species inhabiting the ecologically rich archipelago are actually two species.
Scientists have identified a new species of giant tortoise on the Gal谩pagos Islands, the Ecuadoran archipelago famed for its stunning landscapes, lush biodiversity, and, well, tortoises.
It is the first time in more than a century聽that such a discovery has been made, according to The New York Times. The findings appeared Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.
Two tortoise colonies reside on聽Santa Cruz Island, the second largest in the Pacific island chain. Scientists long thought that the turtles that lived in the lowlands, which number about 250, were the same species as the much larger colony that resides in more elevated areas.
Genetic analysis not only proved them wrong, but also revealed that the two populations are not even particularly closely related, having evolved millions of years apart, Adalgisa Caccone, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University and the study鈥檚 lead author, told the Times.
Scientists named the new tortoise聽Chelonoidis donfaustoi, after a retired Gal谩pagos聽National Park ranger Fausto Llerena S谩nchez, known to his friends and colleagues as Don Fausto, Scientific American reports.
鈥淭his guy dedicated his life to them,鈥� Dr. Caccone told Scientific American. 鈥淎ll the other [tortoise] species are named by scientists for scientists or explorers, but no species has been named after a person from Ecuador.鈥�
C. donfaustoi is the 15th聽confirmed tortoise species to be discovered on the islands, the BBC reports, an event few had thought possible after the 2012聽death of Lonesome George,聽the聽last remaining tortoise on Pinta Island.
Before the century-old tortoise died, conservationists had unsuccessfully attempted to breed George, a popular national attraction, with two female tortoises. When he passed, the 200-pound tortoise went on public display temporarily at the American Museum of Natural History, 海角大神 reported.
鈥淭his tortoise means so much to so many,鈥� State University of New York environmental scientist聽James Gibbs said of George.
The Gal谩pagos聽tortoises, long celebrated as a symbol of the islands, were closely studied by Charles Darwin in his work on evolution. While giant tortoises once existed in most parts of the world, these tortoises are now only one of two remaining groups of the reptiles, according to the Gal谩pagos聽Conservancy.
Scientists believe the tortoises first came to the Gal谩pagos聽somewhere between two to three million years ago, drifting there on vegetation rafts or arriving on their own. Earlier this year, one of their secrets to adaptation was learned: the herbivores thrive on a diet of non-native plants, offering some proof to conservationists that introduced species are not necessarily 鈥渂ad actors,鈥� according to a study at the Washington University of St. Louis.
Today, about 20,000 to 25,000 tortoises live on the islands, while the Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO-protected group of coral islands in the Indian Ocean, claims the other group of some 152,000 tortoises.