Meet the giant tortoises of Galápagos Islands, who live for more than a century
All you have seen tortoises in zoos and pictures too. They are quite large and heavy too! Did you know that one species of tortoise can grow to be over 5 feet long? Yes, we are talking about the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of 127 islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, 1,000 kilometres west of northern South America. These giant tortoises weigh more than 500 pounds and can live for more than a century! The oldest tortoise ever recorded lived for 152 years. There were 15 species of giant tortoise on the archipelago when Charles Darwin, the pioneer of the theory of evolution, arrived there, but only 11 remain today. In fact, the name of these group of islands is derived from the Spanish word Galapágo meaning tortoise.
The giant tortoises
The giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands are among the largest living reptiles. They have the longest lifespan that any vertebrate has. Though they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, they can be categorised into two shell types: Domed and saddle-backed. Due to the shape of their shells, dome-shelled tortoises can raise their heads in a restricted manner. They typically live on the humid islands of the Galápagos archipelago, which full of vegetation. Saddle-backed tortoises, on the other hand, have more flexibility in movement, allowing them to stretch long and reach higher growing plants. They tend to live on the dry islands in Galápagos, where food is not that abundant. These giant tortoises spend 16 hours a day resting. The remaining time is spent gorging on food. However, they can survive for a whole year without food or water. Isn’t that amazing? Currently, the Galápagos Islands archipelago is home to approximately 15,000 giant tortoises.
The tale of the giant tortoise named Lonesome George
The tortoises in the Pinta region of the Galápagos Islands were called Pinta tortoises. However, these soon became extinct due to overexploitation by whalers and seamen in the 1800s. In 1971, József Vágvölgyi, a Hungarian scientist, was researching the Galápagos Islands and came across a giant tortoise with the shell of a Pinta tortoise. It was named the Lonesome George!
Eventually, George was brought to the Charles Darwin Research Station, located in the Santa Cruz Island of the Galápagos archipelago. The aim was to protect and study him. Researchers tried to find a suitable mate for George to preserve his species, but their efforts saw no fruit. Finally, in 2012, George died at the age of 100. However, you can still find his remains preserved in the Museum of Natural History in New York.
Fernanda: The only surviving giant tortoise of her species
Researchers recently discovered another long-lost member of another extinct species of giant tortoises. Named Fernanda, she was found in 2019, lurking behind rocks and bushes on the Fernandina Island of the Galápagos Islands. What makes Fernanda, our giant tortoise, so unique is that she is the only surviving member of her species!
When Fernanda was discovered, there was a lot of debate about her lineage to the once-sighted member of her species. However, genome sequencing revealed that she is the direct descendant of the tortoise seen only once in 1906. Fernanda now lives in the Galapagos National Park’s giant tortoise breeding centre. Her discovery has led scientists to believe that the Galapagos Islands may harbour more extinct species that can be saved from extinction by identifying and breeding them.