Published 14:59 IST, February 4th 2020
Lonesome George's partial descendant found near Wolf Volcano
The group found a female tortoise that has a 16% genome of Chelonoidis abingdonii, the extinct species from Pinta Island to which Lonesome George belonged.
A team that had travelled to Wolf Volcano for a 10-day expedition returned on January 31 and conservationists say that they have found 30 giant tortoises partially descended from two extinct species, including that of famed Lonesome George. According to Galapagos Conservancy, the group found a female tortoise that has a 16% genome of Chelonoidis abingdonii, the extinct species from Pinta Island to which Lonesome George belonged.
Lonesome George was the last of those tortoises that belonged to Chelonoidis abingdonii species of Pinta Island in Ecuador, before it died in June 2012. Lonesome George was believed to be over 100 years old when it was found dead in the Galapagos National Park in Ecuador. Currently, the frozen body of Lonesome George is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The great expedition
As per Galapagos Conservancy, a 45-member team of park rangers and scientists travelled approximately 77 square miles of tortoise habitat on Wolf Volcano to collect approximately 50 blood samples in order to perform genetic analysis to determine the species to which they belong. According to the web page of the organisation, the 30 tortoises collected on this expedition were transferred to the “Fausto Llerena” Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island before they were given an identification microchip.
According to Galapagos Conservancy, 19 (12 females and eight males) of the giant tortoises found have known partial lineage of the species considered extinct on Floreana Island. Ten other tortoises (seven females and three males) had not been genotyped but had highly saddleback shells, typically of Floreana and Pinta species. The ten others will be genotyped soon to determine where they came from. The Galapagos Conservancy said that pirates and whalers released tortoises collected on other islands and left them near the volcano in previous centuries.
Updated 14:59 IST, February 4th 2020