A new article published on Plos
ONe describes the events that led to naming a new species of Giant Tortoise
on the island of Santa Cruz. Currently, the taxonomy of giant Galapagos
tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) is currently based on morphological characters and
island of origin. Several studies over the past decade recorded multiple
independent evolutionary lineages, prompting the need for taxonomic revision. The
article goes on to report that “two evolutionarily and spatially distinct
lineages on the western and eastern sectors of the island, known as the Reserva
and Cerro Fatal populations, respectively” (Poulakakis, et. al, 2015).
Fig 1. Geographic distribution of the two known lineages of
giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island: Chelonoidis porteri (Reserva) and
Chelonoidis sp. nov. (Cerro Fatal) (indicated in dark gray).
Light gray area connecting the distribution areas of the two
species indicates agricultural land. Modified from Russello et al. [11].
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138779.g001
To read the full journal article and learn more about this
new species click
here.
Reference:
Poulakakis N, Edwards DL, Chiari Y, Garrick RC, Russello MA,
Benavides E, et al. (2015) Description of a New Galapagos Giant Tortoise
Species (Chelonoidis; Testudines: Testudinidae) from Cerro Fatal on Santa Cruz
Island. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0138779. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138779
