Genetic relatives of extinct tortoises rescued for breeding program

Tortoise trying to escape
September 13, 2017

Yale News: An international expedition to a remote Galapagos Island rescued enough tortoises to start a breeding program that may help resurrect an extinct species, investigators from Yale University report Sept. 13 in the journal Science Reports. However, the search for genetic relatives of Lonesome George, the last tortoise of its species which died in 2012, came up empty.

Many members of the two species of tortoises — marked by the distinctive saddleback shape of their shells — were removed from their native islands of Floreana and Pinta more than two centuries ago by sailors looking for food. However, researchers in 2008 found tortoises with the distinctive saddleback shells on Isabela Island in the Galapagos where native species have dome-shaped shells. Subsequent DNA-based analyses showed these tortoises were descendants of species from Floreana and Pinta. Ancestors of these tortoises were probably thrown overboard by mariners who did not have space for them on ship, and then over generations they mated with native species.  Tortoises have been extinct on Floreana for the past 150 years and Lonesome George was last tortoise alive on Pinta. Read more…

Read the Full Publication in Nature here…