QUITO (Ecuador) - SCIENTISTS in the Galapagos Islands have installed cameras on the shells of giant tortoises in a study that could shed light on how they live, mate and migrate.

Galapagos National Park official Washington Tapia says the research project includes two tortoises in captivity and a third in the wild.

Tapia says scientists hope to learn about tortoises' nocturnal behavior, reproductive cycles and seasonal migration.

He said on Friday in a park statement the three-week study may be expanded if it yields useful information.

The National Geographic Society, the Charles Darwin Foundation and Germany's Max Planck Institute are participating.

The endangered giant Galapagos tortoise is the world's largest living tortoise. -- AP