Tortoise found in 2019 is from species thought extinct

Mr Washington Tapia (centre), from Galapagos Conservancy, and two park rangers seen with a specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century ago, at Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz I
Mr Washington Tapia (centre), from Galapagos Conservancy, and two park rangers seen with a specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century ago, at Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz Island on Feb 19, 2019. DNA tests on the female turtle confirmed the link. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Mr Washington Tapia (centre), from Galapagos Conservancy, and two park rangers seen with a specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century ago, at Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz I
Mr Washington Tapia, from Galapagos Conservancy, and two park rangers seen with a specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century ago, at Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz Island on Feb 19, 2019. DNA tests on the female turtle (above) confirmed the link. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

QUITO • Officials in Ecuador said that genetic tests had confirmed a tortoise found in 2019 on the Galapagos island of Fernandina is a member of a species thought to have gone extinct a century ago.

"It was believed to have gone extinct more than 100 years ago!" Environment Minister Gustavo Marique said in a statement on Tuesday. "We have reconfirmed its existence. The tortoise of the species Chelonoidis phantasticus was found in #Galapagos."

Geneticists from Yale University compared DNA from the female turtle found two years ago with a sample extracted from a male of the species in 1906. The specimen, kept in a museum, had been collected during an expedition by the California Academy of Sciences.

The Chelonoidis phantasticus, typical of Fernandina Island, is one of 15 species of giant tortoises native to the Galapagos archipelago. The Chelonoidis species of Santa Fe Island and the Abingdonii species of Pinta island have disappeared.

"This discovery undoubtedly renews our hope for the recovery of this species, in order to avoid a fate similar to that of Lonesome George," said Mr Danny Rueda, director of the Galapagos National Park.

Lonesome George, a member of the species Chelonoidis abingdonii, died in 2012 without offspring after refusing to mate in captivity with females of related subspecies. He became an emblem of the Galapagos, an archipelago located 1,000km off the coast of Ecuador and which takes its name from the gigantic turtles.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 27, 2021, with the headline Tortoise found in 2019 is from species thought extinct. Subscribe