The Fantastic Giant Tortoise That Is Believed To Have Disappeared A Century Ago Was Found Alive In The Galapagos

The turtle, named Fernanda after its home on Fernandina Island, is the first of its kind to be found in more than a century. The existence of the giant tortoise on Fernandina Island – or the “fictional giant tortoise” as it is also known – was discovered in 1906 when a single specimen was collected. In 2019, a new discovery of an unusual female turtle living on the island hinted to scientists that the species lived. They had to follow the entire turtle genome and compare it to the original sample to confirm that the species had not actually disappeared. A sample collected in 1906 helped scientists identify the species of turtle found on the island of Fernandina (Galapagos Conservancy) Princeton geneticist Stephen Gaughran successfully extracted DNA from a 1906 sample and confirmed that the living Fernanda and the 1906 turtle were members of the same species and genetically distinct from all other Galapagos tortoises. “Like many people, my initial suspicion was that this was not a native of Fernadina Island,” said Mr Gogran. Describing his discovery, he added: “We saw, honestly to my surprise, that Fernanda was very similar to what they found on this island more than 100 years ago, and both were very different from all the other islands.” turtles. “ The turtle gained the position of “fantastic” due to the excellent shape of the male’s shells, which have extreme flushing along the outer edge. Fernanda, the recently discovered animal, is estimated to be well over 50 years old, but small for its age, probably because the limited vegetation on the island hindered its growth. Adalgisa Caccone, a senior author on the paper that unveiled the new species, said: “Finding a living specimen gives hope and also raises new questions, as many mysteries remain. “Are there more turtles in Fernτίndez that they can bring back into captivity to start a breeding program?” How did the turtles colonize Fernadina and what is their evolutionary relationship with the other giant Galapagos turtles? “It also shows the importance of using museum collections to understand the past.” A drop of irresistible evidence had shown that giant tortoises could still live on Fernandina Island, an active volcano in the Galapagos. More recently, traces of at least two or three other turtles were found during missions to the island.