Artwork: phys.org
Research by the scientist conducted by Newcastle University (UK), Yale University (USA), the NGO Galapagos Conservancy (USA) and many other organizations, published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Heredity.
Scientists compare the genetic material of turtle currently lives on the island of San Cristobal in Galapagos Islands with bone and shell samples collected in a cave located in the island’s highlands in 1906. Scientists have discovered that this turtle – now scientifically named Chelonoidis chathamensis – has a special characteristic, genetic point overlapping with the turtle species. another turtle.
Ecuador’s Ministry of the Environment said that the reason the nearly 8,000 turtles here were recently discovered of a different species may be because explorers in the 20th century had never approached the northeastern part of the island, the area where these new turtles lived. .
According to the Galapagos Conservation, Chelonoidis chathamensis is “almost certainly extinct” and in fact the island was once home to two different species of turtle, one highland and one lowland. .
Located about 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador off the Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos Islands are a highly protected wildlife sanctuary and home to many remarkable species of flora and fauna.
The Galapagos National Park said the archipelago originally had just 15 species of giant tortoise, three of which went extinct centuries ago. Previously, specimens of Chelonoidis phantastica were found on Fernandina Island as well as in the Galapagos Islands in 2019, more than 100 years after the species was deemed extinct.
Scientists say they will continue to recover more genes from bone and shell samples to determine whether the turtle living on the island of San Cristobal should be given a new name.
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