Four species of giant tortoise have gone extinct over the past few hundred years due to overhunting . However , one of these metal money might have a 2nd probability thanks to some disoriented tortoise discovered on a distant vent .
A team of conservationists led by Yale University has gathered more evidence and made a fresh pledge to resurrect the Floreana tortoise ( Chelonoidis elephantopus ) , a saddleback - shelled wolf from Floreana Island in the Galápagos . Charles Darwin documented this species during his famous trip to the Galápagos in the 19th century but they were hold extinct within just 15 year of his visit .
The fresh cogitation , which is usable on the biology preprint serverBioRxiv , is the in vogue installment in along occupation of old work , has find 114 tortoise that deal the saddleback geomorphology of the Floreana tortoise . They express out pedigree test on some of the tortoises to discover that 35 somebody had a mitochondrial DNA haplotype that belongs to the Floreana species .
DNA evidence also discover two tortoises that appeared to be purebred Floreanas . That might just mean they have had a more recent ancestry with a purebred than the others but it potentially suggest the species never really went extinct .
The researchers flew 23 of these individuals to a breeding center via helicopter to join 44 other tortoises from the 2015 expeditiousness . If their breeding program follow , the hope is to return them back to Floreana Island .
“ Our discovery raises the possibility that the extinct Floreana metal money could be revived . In this display case , tortoise with Floreana ancestry are survive ‘ genomic archives ’ that keep back the evolutionary bequest of the extinct species , take away the motivation for the cloning methods that have been purpose to bestow back out species , ” the source write .
“ The Floreana tortoise breeding program is anticipated to beget thousands of offspring over the next few decades . When repatriate to Floreana Island , these tortoises can once again play their vital role as ecosystem technologist . ”
The tale of how these similar tortoises became shipwreck survivor on this faraway island is a fascinating one . These individual are thought to be descendants of tortoises make a motion around by early colonizers of the islands who acquired a taste for tortoise meat . These sailor darted between the island , taking live tortoises for food as they went . Somehow during this haphazard back - and - Forth River between the islands , some of the Floreana tortoises were probably left stranded away from their native island .
Since this era around 300 years ago , all elephantine tortoise population have declined by over 90 percent due to overhunting and being outcompeted by invasive mintage introduced by man . This new discovery brings smart promise tothe on-going researchinto how these beloved brute might someday not be totally make out .
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
