Wanted: a mate for Fernanda the fantastic
WHEN Fernanda the giant tortoise wandered on to a patch of vegetation on a remote Galapagos island in 2019, she not only shocked rangers, but inadvertently resurrected her entire species.
Prior to her emergence, the last known example of the “fantastic giant tortoise” (Chelonoidis phantasticus) was a single male, shot and skinned by the US collector Rollo Beck in 1906, and displayed in a Californian museum.
Now, a new study in Communications Biolog y reveals that the 50-year-old female is genetically related to the illfated museum specimen, and researchers are keen to see if there are more giant tortoises on Fernandina Island.
Recent expeditions have found signs of two to three other creatures on the Pacific outcrop and experts hope a male will soon be spotted, so that a breeding programme can be established.
Dr Evelyn Jensen, study lead author, said: “Only two tortoises have ever been found on Fernandina Island, and we have shown that they are members of the same species. It is truly exciting; the species is not extinct, but lives on.”