Date: November 20, 2015
Source: SUNY College of
Environmental Science and Forestry
Scientists have launched an
expedition to a remote volcano in the Galapagos Islands to search out rare
giant tortoises, some of which were found to carry the genes of two species
thought, until recently, to be extinct.
Dr. James P. Gibbs, a
conservation biologist at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and
Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, New York, who is part of the team, said the
expedition is focused on rescuing some of the tortoises so they can be bred in
captivity, paving the way for the re-establishment of two species that were
believed to have vanished from the archipelago. The team departed Nov. 18 for a
trip to Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island.
"Our team from the Galapagos
National Park Service, Yale University, and the Galapagos Conservancy
discovered a small trove of extremely unusual tortoises on the remote Wolf
Volcano on the northern end of Isabela Island," said Gibbs, shortly before
he left Syracuse for the Galapagos. "There are actually thousands of
tortoises native to the volcano there -- we don't know how many -- and amongst
them are some rather special ones."
Gibbs credited his colleagues at
Yale University with the genetic analysis that revealed in 2012 that some of
the tortoises at Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island are descendants of the species
of tortoises that are extinct on their native islands of Pinta and Floreana.
The last known living Pinta tortoise was the famous Lonesome George. Floreana
tortoises have not been seen for more than 100 years - Charles Darwin was one
of the last to remark on them. Researchers launched a high-profile search for a
mate for the iconic tortoise, but the effort was unsuccessful and Lonesome
George died in 2012. Gibbs, who has worked with Galapagos tortoises since 1994,
escorted George's body back to the United States to be taxidermied where it
remains as preparations are made in Galapagos to build an exhibit hall for the
tortoise.
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