Tests have confirmed that a giant tortoise found on the Galápagos Islands in 2019, is from a species scientists believed to have died out more than a century ago.
A team from Yale University compared DNA taken from the female tortoise with a sample taken in 1906 from a male member of the Chelonoidis phantasticus species - and the pair were found to be a match.
"The investigation confirms that this individual belongs to the Chelonoidis phantasticus, a species declared extinct since 1906. This confirmation gives us lots of hope to continue programmes to save the land tortoises of the Galapagos island," Danny Rueda Córdova, Director of the Galapagos National Park said.
"Now that we have the confirmation, we are planning an expedition during the second part of the year because we have found tortoise excrement which suggests there could be other individuals on Fernandinha. We would like to find them and do genetic tests as well to confirm their species," Córdova said.
Giant tortoise populations were devastated throughout the 19th century by whalers and buccaneers, the Galapagos National Park said, adding that volcanic eruptions in the past may have impacted tortoise populations as well.
The park estimates the current tortoise population on the Galapagos Islands to be around 60,000.
A #Galapagos tortoise spicies that was thought to be extinct in 1906 has been found | Read more: https://t.co/Zd0MmFpPrA pic.twitter.com/19khrEAxzp
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 27, 2021
