In May 2021, genetic tests confirmed that a giant tortoise found on the Galapagos Islands is from a species that scientists thought had died out more than a century ago. The single female Fernandina giant tortoise was discovered during a 2019 expedition to Fernandina Island. To prove the link, scientists took samples from the female to compare to the remains of a male from the species Chelonoidis phantasticus. The last previous sighting of the species had been in 1906.
A giant tortoise (Geochelone hoodensis) population that in the 1970s had dropped to about 15 was once again a common sight on the island, said Washington Tapia, a park official who led the survey, which used electronic devices to track the animals. “During the expedition we found nests, recently hatched tortoises, and adults born on Española, which indicates that the tortoise population is doing well.”
The population now numbered between 1,500 to 2,000, said Linda Cayot, a scientific adviser to Galápagos Conservancy. “We will have a much better idea when the survey results are compiled.”
The original population was thought to number up to 5,000 before becoming a vulnerable source of fresh meat for passing sailors.
The project’s success has bolstered a plan to “re-tortoise” another island, Pinta, with the same species in the hope of re-creating a “pre-human” balanced ecosystem. The scattering of rocky, volcanic islands 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador are a Unesco world natural heritage site and home to dozens of endemic species found nowhere else. Some 95% of the territory’s 3,000 sq miles is a protected area.
“It’s completely amazing, one of the few places where you can actually see evolution happening in real time,” said Henry Nicholls, ambassador for the Galápagos Conservation Trust. He welcomed the recovery of Española’s giant tortoise population. “They are a flagship species which capture the public imagination.”
Credit : Our World
Picture Credit : Google
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