After more than 100 years during which it was believed extinct, the Fernandina giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus) is, in fact, not. The confirmation of this wonderful news arrived on Tuesday 25 May, thanks to the results of DNA tests carried out on a tortoise named Fern, present on Fernandina Island in the Galápagos, which confirm that she belongs to the species. A group of researchers has immediately launched a fundraising campaign to finance a series of expeditions to the island in search of further specimens.

A specimen of the Fernandina giant tortoise identified

Fern had been found in 2019 during a joint expedition by the NGO Galapagos conservancy and the Galapagos national park directorate (Gnpd), and from the outset scientists had suspected she might be a descendant of the now-extinct Chelonoidis phantasticus. Official confirmation was provided in recent days by researchers at Yale University, who conducted genetic tests on the animal, comparing her DNA with that of the last specimen of the species to have been classified in the Galápagos, in 1906.

"We believed it had been extinct for over 100 years! Now we have confirmation of its existence. A tortoise of the species Chelonoidis phantasticus has been discovered in the Galápagos," tweeted Ecuadorian Environment Minister Gustavo Manrique. "Starting our term of office with so much good news is a wonderful thing. Hope remains intact."

Gustavo Manrique M. @GustavoManriq_M

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¡Se creía extinta hace más de 100 años! Hemos reconfirmado su existencia. La tortuga de la especie Chelonoidis phantasticus fue encontrada en #Galápagos. Empezar con tan buenas noticias nuestra gestión es una linda coincidencia. La esperanza está intacta. #JuntosLoLogramos

♥ 2168💬 60 25 mag 2021 · Apri su X →

An expedition to search for further specimens is planned

"One of the great mysteries of the Galápagos is precisely the giant tortoise of Fernandina Island. Discovering now this species that we believed we had lost forever could be just the right moment to save it," explained James Gibbs, vice-president of the NGO and tortoise expert at the State University of New York.

The island is dominated by an imposing still-active volcano that makes expeditions particularly challenging, but the researchers have already launched a fundraising campaign to travel to the site and search for a male specimen, in the hope of being able to breed him with Fern and thereby save the entire species.

Read also:

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The stories of Fern and George

Words of confidence have also been expressed by Danny Rueda, the director of the Galápagos national park, who considers the confirmation of Fern's identity an opportunity to save this species from extinction and "avoid the fate of Lonesome George". From the time he was found in 1972, George was always the last of his species, Chelonoidis abingdonii, more commonly known as the Pinta Island giant tortoise. He never accepted mating with any other tortoise, and when he died in 2012, he took the entire species with him. The same fate now looms over Fern, who, until today, would appear to be the last Fernandina giant tortoise.

Indeed, before her discovery in 2019, only one specimen of this species had been found in the wild, in 1905, by a team of researchers from the California academy of sciences. In the nineteenth century, the giant tortoise population of the Galápagos was decimated across the entire archipelago by whalers and pirates, and at the time it was believed that the Fernandina tortoise had been driven to extinction by volcanic eruptions in the preceding centuries. The total giant tortoise population across all the islands today accounts for only 10–15 per cent of the specimens of former times, which are thought to have numbered between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand individuals.

Tortoises are the longest-lived of all vertebrates. They live on average between 70 and 80 years, but in some cases can reach up to 200. Today they are seriously threatened by a long list of human factors, including the destruction of their habitats, hunting, and of course the illegal trade in exotic species.

It should be remembered, however, that they first appeared on the planet 250 million years ago and have survived the most extreme events, from ice ages to mass extinctions. The kinds of intelligence they must have developed in order to do so are extraordinary. For this reason, when we speak of protecting them, we are not referring solely to saving their species, but to protecting an entire part of our Planet's identity. And, perhaps, of our own as well.