In 2012 we said goodbye to Lonesome George, a giant tortoise from Pinta Island in the Galapagos, and scientists announced that his death marked the end of the Geochelone abingdoni species. But now, the good news arrives: among the turtles discovered in a new expedition there is also a young female who has a genome similar to that of George.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
In 2012 we said goodbye to Lonesome George, a giant tortoise from Pinta Island in the Galapagos, and scientists announced that his death marked the end of the Geochelone abingdoni species. But now, here comes the good news: among the turtles discovered in a new expedition there is also one young female which has a genome similar to George's.
The expedition apparently paid off. Researchers in the vicinity of the Wolf volcano found 30 hybrid giant tortoises, with partial lineages of the species Chelonoidis abingdonii and Chelonoidis Niger, both considered extinct in the Galapagos.
BREAKING NEWS: A tortoise with Pinta Island tortoise ancestry — Lonesome George's species — has been found on Wolf…
Posted by Galápagos Conservancy on Friday, January 31, 2020
Of the localized turtles, 29 turtles (11 males and 18 females) have partial lineage of the species considered extinct on the island of Forea, but the one that has attracted the most attention is a young female descended directly from the solitary George, the giant tortoise that died a few years ago in sudden circumstances.
Posted by Galapagos National Park on Friday, January 31, 2020
Posted by Galapagos National Park on Friday, January 31, 2020
A female that according to the Galapagos conservancy has a genome of 16% of Chelonoidis abingdonii and that could be the direct descendant of a pure individual, who could still live in some area of this volcano in the northern region of the island of Isabela.
[BULLETIN] Scientific expedition to Wolf volcano locates a turtle related to Lonesome GeorgeThe expedition to…
Posted by Galapagos National Park on Friday, January 31, 2020
The expedition that is part of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative (GTRI), a program of the Galapagos Conservancy and the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park, was promoted precisely to perform genetic analysis on turtles and establish the determination of the species, including those that are extinct. The team collected 50 blood samples and microchipped the turtles. In short, one story of hope for a species that was believed extinct with George becoming the symbol of the Galapagos and the loss of biodiversity by man.
Fonti: Galapagos Conservancy Galapagos Park
Read also:
- Last Galapagos giant tortoise dead
- Diego, the giant tortoise who saved his species, returns home after 80 years of captivity
- Baby turtles first spotted on the Galapagos Islands in over 100 years
