Never Before Seen Giant Tortoise, Over 8,000 Lineage Discovered in Galapagos

A never-before-seen species of giant tortoise has just been uncovered in the Galapagos islands after DNA testing verified that the animals living on one island have never been recorded, according to the environment ministry of Ecuador.

Researchers used genetic material of tortoises recorded to live on San Cristobal with bones and shells gathered in 1906 from a cave in one of the island's highlands and discovered a remarkable difference.

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(Photo: RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - A specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century ago, is seen at the Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador, on February 19, 2019. - The adult female was found earlier in the day during an expedition in Fernandina Island, in the Galapagos, Ecuadorean Environment Minister Marcelo Mata announced on Tuesday.

In previous studies, the lowlands located in the northeastern region of the San Cristobal islands were among the many places that were not recovered with comprehensive data by most explorers who traveled far and wide around the world during the 20th century.

The limitations resulted in almost 8,000 various tortoise species not being labeled with the right information with respect to their correct lineages.

For example, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition in Ecuador recently announced that most of the giant tortoise species inhabiting the island, also known as the Chelonoidis chathamensis, were just discovered to match with a different species.

The Galapagos Conservancy explained that Chelonoidis chathamensis is almost certainly extinct. They added that the San Cristobal island is home to two distinct tortoise lineage, with each group living separately in the lowlands and highlands.

The Galapagos Islands, in which the region of San Cristobal is part, is located in the Pacific 1,000 kilometers off Ecuador. The archipelago has large biodiversity of both animals and plants protected under the government's regulation.

This particular group of islands initially gained the world's attention through the observations carried out by the popular British naturalist and evolutionary specialist Charles Darwin.

The Galapagos National Park has recorded at least 15 giant tortoise species that initially lived on the island, with three of them becoming extinct centuries ago.

Back in recent years, the nearby Fernandina Island was discovered with a specimen from the Chelonoidis phantastica, a tortoise that was first thought to be extinct more than 100 years ago.

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True Identity of Resident Tortoise in San Cristobal

This new study was led by scholars from Yale University, Newcastle University, and experts from the Galapagos Conservancy, alongside other contributing institutes.

With the baffling encounter of the remains of the supposed-extinct creatures, the scientists are expecting additional studies to be conducted not just in the San Cristobal island but to the landmass included in the Galapagos region.

According to a report by Science Alert, the team will be searching for more specimens of the tortoise existing in San Cristobal. Supporting bones, shells, and DNA samples will provide the team with clues and further understanding of the real identity of the tortoise in question and whether they must give the resident group of these reptiles a new name.

The study was published in the journal Heredity, titled "A new lineage of Galapagos giant tortoises identified from museum samples."

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