Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise

Chelonoidis niger phantasticus (commonly known as the Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise or Narborough Island giant tortoise) is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise that was discovered in 1906 and thought extinct, until a single female was discovered living on Fernandina Island by an expedition in February 2019.[5][6][7] In May 2021, a genetic test carried out by scientists from the California Academy of Sciences confirmed that the single female tortoise discovered in 2019 is from the subspecies Chelonoidis niger phantasticus.[8][9] The subspecies name has often been misspelled as phantastica, an error introduced in the 1980s when Chelonoidis was elevated to genus and mistakenly treated as feminine, an error recognized and fixed in 2017.[2]

Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise
Holotype adult male specimen, collected by Rollo H. Beck in 1906.

Critically endangered, possibly extinct in the wild  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Chelonoidis
Species:
C. niger
Subspecies:
C. n. phantasticus
Trinomial name
Chelonoidis niger phantasticus
Synonyms
  • Testudo phantasticus Van Denburgh, 1907[3]
  • Geochelone nigra phantastica Iverson, 1992[4]
  • Chelonoidis 2 phantastica[2]
  • Chelonoidis phantasticus

Taxonomy

Chelonoidis niger phantasticus is considered a subspecies of Chelonoidis niger, sometimes considered a valid species itself alongside all other subspecies. Rhodin et al. (2010) lists them separately but under the heading "C. niger species complex".[10]

Discovery and rediscovery
Map showing locations of Galapagos tortoises

Originally known from only one male specimen found (and killed) by members of the 1906 California Academy of Sciences expedition,[11] there were discoveries of putative tortoise droppings and cactus bite marks in 1964 and 2013, and an unconfirmed sighting in 2009.[1][12]

No confirmed live tortoises nor remains were found on Fernandina until an expedition in February 2019 discovered a potential endling, an elderly female.[13] The tortoise was transferred to a breeding center on nearby Santa Cruz Island, for the purpose of conservation and genetic tests. There are efforts being made to find a suitable male breeding mate for the female.[14][15][16]

The 2019 expedition was undertaken by the Galapagos National Park Directorate and Galapagos Conservancy and was led by Washington Tapia-Aguilera— Director of Conservation at the Galapagos Conservancy and director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative [17] —and included four rangers: Jeffreys Málaga, Eduardo Vilema, Roberto Ballesteros, and Simon Villamar.[5] The search and discovery were shown in Forrest Galante's television show, Extinct or Alive (season 2, episode 1). While some accounts have credited Galante with the discovery,[18] this is disputed by Tapia-Aguilera who has highlighted that "Ecuadorian park ranger Jeffreys Málaga was the one that knew the land, tracked the tortoise, and ultimately made the discovery before calling over the rest of the team."[19][20]

On May 25, 2021, officials announced that genetic tests had confirmed that the female tortoise found in 2019 is indeed a member of the Chelonoidis niger phantasticus subspecies. Geneticists from Yale University in the United States compared the female's DNA with a sample extracted from the male specimen found in 1906.[21] In 2022, the genetic findings were formally published.[22]

The Director of the Galapagos National Park, Danny Rueda, has said that a further expedition will be launched to Fernandina Island to try to locate other members of the same subspecies.[23]

See also

References
  1. Rhodin, A.G.J.; Gibbs, J.P.; Cayot, L.J.; Kiester, A.R.; Tapia, W. (2018) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Chelonoidis phantasticus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  2. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group; Rhodin, A.G.J.; Iverson, J.B.; Bour, R.; Fritz, U.; Georges, A.; Shaffer, H.B.; van Dijk, P.P. (2017). "Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status" (PDF). In Rhodin, A.G.J.; Iverson, J.B.; van Dijk, P.P.; Saumure, R.A.; Buhlmann, K.A.; Pritchard, P.C.H.; Mittermeier, R.A. (eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs. 7 (8th ed.). pp. 1–292. doi:10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017. ISBN 978-1-5323-5026-9. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  3. Van Denburgh, John (1907). "Preliminary descriptions of four new races of gigantic land tortoises from the Galapagos Islands". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 4th series. 1: 1–6.
  4. Iverson, J.B. (1992). A revised Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World. Richmond, Indiana: J.B. Iverson Pub. p. 363. ISBN 0961743115.
  5. Langlois, Jill (February 22, 2019). "How an 'extinct' tortoise was rediscovered after a century". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  6. Godlewski, Nina (2019-02-21). "Tortoise thought to be extinct for a century found alive in Galapagos". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  7. Stambaugh, Alex (21 February 2019). "'Extinct' Galapagos tortoise found after 100 years". CNN. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  8. "Galápagos tortoise found alive is from species thought extinct". BBC. May 26, 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  9. "Giant Tortoise Found in Galapagos Confirmed to Belong to Species Thought to be Extinct | May 27, 2021". The Daily NewsBrief. 2021-05-27. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  10. Rhodin, A.G.J.; van Dijk, P.P.; Iverson, J.B.; Shaffer, H.B. (2010). "Turtles of the World, 2010 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status" (PDF). Chelonian Research Monographs. 5: 000.85–000.164. doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v3.2010. ISBN 978-0965354097.
  11. California Academy of Sciences. (1907). Expedition of the California academy of sciences to the Galapagos islands, 1905-1906. San Francisco: The Academy.
  12. Hendrickson, J.R. (1965). "Reptiles of the Galápagos". Pacific Discovery. 5 (18).
  13. "Tortuga considerada extinta hace 100 años es descubierta en Galápagos" (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  14. "Marcelo Mata on Twitter" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  15. "Not seen for 100 years, a rare Galápagos tortoise was considered all but extinct – until now". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  16. "Giant tortoise believed extinct for 100 years found in Galápagos". The Guardian. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  17. "Galapagos Conservancy staff page" (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  18. "Discoveries". forrestgalante.com. 23 March 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2021. In 2019, during an expedition to the Galapagos, Galante trekked over Fernandina Island and discovered a female Fernandina Island tortoise, a species that hadn't been seen for 113 years and also was classified as extinct.
  19. Wight, Andrew J. (8 March 2020). "In the bombast of an American TV host, colonial science lives on". Salon.
  20. Jensen, Evelyn L.; Gaughran, Stephen J.; Fusco, Nicole A.; Poulakakis, Nikos; Tapia, Washington; Sevilla, Christian; Málaga, Jeffreys; Mariani, Carol; Gibbs, James P.; Caccone, Adalgisa (2022-06-09). "The Galapagos giant tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus is not extinct". Communications Biology. 5 (1): 546. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-03483-w. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 9184544. PMID 35681083.
  21. "Ecuador confirms Galapagos tortoise is from species thought extinct". France 24. 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  22. Jensen, Evelyn L.; Gaughran, Stephen J.; Fusco, Nicole A.; Poulakakis, Nikos; Tapia, Washington; Sevilla, Christian; Málaga, Jeffreys; Mariani, Carol; Gibbs, James P.; Caccone, Adalgisa (2022). "The Galapagos giant tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus is not extinct". Communications Biology. 5 (1): 546. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-03483-w. PMC 9184544. PMID 35681083.
  23. "Galápagos tortoise found alive is from species thought extinct". BBC News. 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
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