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Wednesday, 18 January 2012

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A tortoise found on Isabela Island

A team of Yale University scientists says a giant Galapagos tortoise which was believed to have gone extinct 150 years ago might still exist.

Galapagos tortoise sits near Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island

Chelonoidis elephantopus lived on the island of Floreana of Galapagos in the Pacific Ocean and was heavily hunted by whalers. Scientists have now found hybrid tortoises on another Galapagos island, called Isabela, that are believed to have Chelonoidis elephantopus as one of their parents. As some hybrids are 15 years old, their parents are most probably alive given that they can live to over 100 years old.

The Yale team says they have found 84 tortoises around Volcano Wolf at the Northern end of Isabela Island that appear to have a pure-bred C. elephantopus as a parent. "Around Volcano Wolf, it was a mystery - you could find domed shells, you could find saddlebacks, and anything in between," BBC quoted senior scientist Gisella Caccone as saying.

"And basically by looking at the genetic fingerprint of the hybrids, if you do some calculations you realize that there have to be a few elephantopus around to father these animals - and to justify the amount of genetic diversity in the hybrids, there should be something like 38."

The 84 animals include both males and females, with some of the hybrids carrying C. elephantopus mitochondrial DNA, which they inherit from their mothers only. Experts say some of the tortoises were probably taken by whaling ships and made it to shore on Isabela. The Yale team plans to negotiate with Galapagos authorities to mount further exploratory expeditions, or press ahead with a captive breeding programme.

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