Experts believed this species to be extinct for over a century.
What a surprise, then, for Ecuador to discover that the giant tortoise discovered in 2019 in the Galapagos archipelago does indeed belong to the species of Chelonoidis phantasticus.
“We thought it had been extinct for over 100 years!
We have confirmed its existence.
The turtle of the species Chelonoidis phantasticus has been discovered in #Galapagos, ”Environment Minister Gustavo Marique tweeted on Tuesday after DNA analyzes revealed its membership.
In order to determine precisely the species to which the turtle belonged, a team of geneticists from the American University of Yale compared the DNA of this female turtle found on the island of Fernandina with that of a male, the last to have been listed in the Galapagos in 1906. This specimen is now a museum piece and belongs to the California Academy of Sciences.
¡Se creía extinta hace más de 100 años!
Hemos reconfirmed su existencia.
The tortuga of the species Chelonoidis phantasticus fue encontrada in # Galapagos.
Empezar con tan buenas noticias nuestra gestión es una linda coincidencia.
La esperanza está intacta.
#JuntosLoLogramos pic.twitter.com/KOmBMLIfEY
- Gustavo Manrique M. (@GustavoManriq_M) May 25, 2021
The adult female, discovered in 2019 during an expedition organized by the PNG and the American environmental organization Galapagos Conservancy, was hidden in the vegetation that grows between the petrified lava flows of the La Cumbre volcano, one of the most active in the planet.
The giant tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus is endemic to Fernandina, an uninhabited 638 km2 island in the Galapagos, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific famous for its unique flora and fauna.
The Galapagos Islands, which the English naturalist Charles Darwin used to develop his theory on the evolution of species, are located 1,000 km from the coast of Ecuador.
VIDEO.
The giant tortoise discovered in the Galapagos belongs to a species declared extinct for more than a century
"This discovery of course strengthens our hope of saving this species, in order to prevent it from a fate similar to that of George the lonely", the emblem of the archipelago, underlined Danny Rueda, the director of the Galapagos National Park (PNG ), according to comments reported by the Ministry of the Environment.
George, the last specimen of Chelonoidis abingdoni, had died without offspring in 2012 because he had not agreed to mate with females of similar species.
The Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment also announced that national park rangers and scientists are preparing for the second half of an expedition to Fernandina Island to search for other specimens of Chelonoidis phantasticus.
The giant tortoises arrived three to four million years ago in the Galapagos archipelago. It seems that they were then dispersed on the islands by sea currents and thus developed 15 different species, two of which are now extinct, Chelonoidis spp from Santa Fe Island, and Chelonoidis abigdoni from Pinta Island.