Galapagos Species Database

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Geochelone nigra spp.. Le et al. (2006) demonstrate that the genus Geochelone is polyphyletic and that the Galapagos Giant Tortoises are better treated as the monophyletic genus Chelonoidis. According to Márquez et al. (2004) and Poulakakis et al. (2008) the Geochelone taxa (= Chelonoidis) from Galapagos are genetically distinct and therefore treated as species and not as subspecies of Geochelone (= Chelonoidis) nigra. According genetic and mophological study, the data confirm the new species on Santa Cruz Island (Poulakakis etal. 2015).

Taxon origin: Endemic

Distribution: Restricted on Cerro El Fatal and Cerro Mesa, Santa Cruz Island.

• Pritchard, P.C.H. (1996) The Galapagos tortoises: Nomenclatural and survival status. Chelonian research monographs No. 1. Chelonian Research Foundation.
• Poulakakis, N. Glaberman, S., Russello, M., Beheregaray, L.B., Ciofi, C., Powell, J.R. & Caccone, A. (2008) Historical DNA analysis reveals living descendants of an extinct species of Galápagos tortoise. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (PNAS) 105(49): 15464-15469.
• Fritts, T.H. (2001) A brief review of the taxonomic history of Galapagos Tortoise relevant to consideration of the most appropiate generic and specifc name for Giant Tortoises in Galapagos. U.S. Geological survey Report, 7 pp.
• Márquez, C. Wiedenfeld, D.A., Snell, H.L., Fritts, T., MacFarland, C., Tapia, W., & Naranjo, S. (2004) Population status of Giant Land Tortoises (Geochelone spp., Chelonya: Testudinae) from the Galapagos Islands. Ecología Aplicada 3(1-2): 98-111.
• Van Denburgh, J. (1907) Preliminary descriptions of four new races of gigantic land tortoises from the Galapagos Islands. Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Galápagos Islands, 1905-1906. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 1: 1-6.
• Russello M.A. Poulakakis, N., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W., Benavides, E., Powell, J.R. & Caccone, A. (2010) DNA from the Past Informs Ex Situ Conservation for the Future: An ‘Extinct’’ Species of Galápagos Tortoise Identified in Captivity. PLoS ONE 5(1): e8683. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008683
• Le, M. Raxworthy, C.J., McCord, W.P. & Mertz, L. (2006) A molecular phylogeny of tortoises (Testudines: Testudinidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40(2006): 517–531.
• Poulakakis, N. Edwards, D.L., Chiari, Y., Garrick, R.C., Russello, M.A., Benavides, E., Watkins-Colwell, J., Glaberman, S., Tapia, W., Gibbs, J.P., Cayot, L.J., Caccone, A. () 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
• Chiari, Y. Claude, J. (2011) Study of the carapace shape and growth in two Galápagos tortoise lineages Journal of Morphology 272(3): 379-86.
• Arteaga, A. Bustamante, L., Vierira, J., Tapia, W., Guayasamin, J.M. (2019) Reptiles of the Galapagos Life on the Enchanted Islands Tropical Herping

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