DNA study shows giant tortoises in the Galápagos are a new species – 12/03/2022 – Science

A DNA study determined that Giant tortoises that live on the island of São Cristovaoat Galapagoscorrespond to a new species that has not yet been described by science, Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment reported Thursday (10).

“The species of giant tortoises that live on the island of São Cristóvão, which until now was scientifically known as Chelonoidis chathamensisgenetically corresponds to a different species,” the folder said on his Twitter account.

Researchers at the University of Newcastle, Yale University, the Galapagos Province, and other institutions have compared genetic material Of the turtles currently living on the island, they are 557 kilometers long, with bones and shells collected in 1906 by the California Academy of Sciences in a cave in the highlands of the island.

when describing Chelonoidis chathamensisHowever, the expedition group that collected the bones from the cave never reached the lowlands northeast of São Cristóvão, where the turtles currently live.

With this, “scientists concluded that approximately 8000 turtles found today in São Cristóvão could not chelonoidis Chathamenses“It goes along with a completely new breed,” the environment ministry said in a statement.

The US NGO Galapagos Conservancy added in a bulletin that the island’s highland population is “almost extinct” and that this is not one, but two different species of turtle inhabiting the site – one that lives in the highlands and the other in the lowlands.

“This discovery of the Galápagos Islands demonstrates the ongoing genetic variation” of species in the archipelago, which is located 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, commented Dani Rueda, director of the Galapagos National Park (PNG).

study that was Published in the scientific journal geneticsHe will go on to recover more DNA from bones and shells to clarify whether live St. Kitts’ turtles should be renamed.

Millions of years ago, the island was probably divided by the sea and each part had its own type of turtle.

But as soon as the water level fell, the two islands merged, and so did the turtles.

The Galapagos, a natural heritage site with plants and animals unique to the world, is named after giant turtles. There were originally 15 species of giant tortoises in the archipelago, three of which became extinct centuries ago, according to PNG.

In 2019, a sample of Chelonoidis phantastica It was found on Fernandina Island after more than a hundred years and is considered extinct.