An international team of scientists including a professor from University of British Columbia have discovered a new species of giant tortoise on Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands.
The tortoise named Chelonoidis donfaustoi is one of the two giant tortoise species that lives on the Santa Cruz Island in the centre of the Galápagos Archipelago. Until UBC biology professor Michael Russello and rest of the researchers discovered the new species, it was believed that the giant tortoise are members of just one species living on the either side of the island.
In the new study, the team of researchers carried out genetic analysis of the giant tortoise to identify two separate populations. According to researchers, the new species is only found on the eastern side of Santa Cruz Island and occupy an area currently estimated at about 40 km2 (one-tenth of the island’s size). The species has been named the Eastern Santa Cruz Tortoise (Chelonoidis donfaustoi).
“The naming of this new species will increase efforts to protect and restore the Eastern Santa Cruz Tortoise,” said Yale University’s Adalgisa Caccone, who led the team of researchers. “Its low numbers, limited geographic range, and reduced genetic diversity make it vulnerable. As a newly recognized species, it will now receive the attention needed to ensure its survival.”
While the team has identified the new species, much about it is still unknown including its distribution, nesting zones, abundance, and potential threats. According to official estimates, the new species are not high in numbers and have their numbers reach a few hundreds at the max.
Research team member Russello, who heads the Ecological and Conservation Genomics Laboratory at UBC’s Okanagan campus, first started working on this project when he was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.
“We initially reported cryptic species diversity in the giant Galápagos tortoises of Santa Cruz Island back in 2005,” he said. “The paper that came out this week formally describes the new species on this island, which will have important implications for conservation.”
The discovery also calls attention to a longtime Galápagos National Park ranger, Fausto Llerena Sánchez, who spent decades developing methods still used today for breeding endangered tortoises. Known to his friends and colleagues as Don Fausto, the new species’ Latin name, Chelonoidis donfaustoi, was chosen in his honour.
Park ranger Don Fausto dedicated 43 years (1971-2014) to giant tortoise conservation and was the primary caretaker at the Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Center on Santa Cruz, which now bears his name. The restoration of several tortoise populations is due in part to Don Fausto’s dedication and efforts.
“It has been a privilege to work with this international team that now includes academics and in-country scientists and managers on four continents,” added Russello. “Most importantly, it has been the continued collaboration of the Galápagos National Park and their commitment to scientifically-informed conservation that has enabled research results to be effectively translated into management strategies.”
Russello says the research team will continue to explore patterns of variation in Galápagos tortoises to investigate basic questions regarding speciation on islands, but also novel ways in which genetic and genomic tools can be used to assess conservation status and inform management strategies.
“This is an exciting moment in the history of Galápagos giant tortoises,” said Linda Cayot, science advisor for Galápagos Conservancy. “Over the last several years, the ever-growing role of genetics in guiding development of conservation strategies for Galápagos tortoises continually requires us to think in new ways.”
The findings were published online October 21, in the journal PLOS ONE.