Credit: Flinders University

Scientists from around the world are hoping to return a lost species of giant tortoise to one of the world-famous Galápagos islands.

The discovery of DNA links or 'high ancestry' to extinct Floreana species of giant tortoise means the mega-herbivore could one day be returned to the island for repatriation via a captive-breeding program – perhaps within the next five years.

Professor Luciano Beheregaray, Head of the Molecular Ecology Group at Flinders University, says the conservation effort will be a major milestone in jump-starting the recovery of the Foreana Island's exotic ecosystem which critically depends on the mega herbivore.

The exciting discovery, outlined in Scientific Reports today, describes how the discovery was made after an international expedition to a remote volcano on Isabela Island in the Galápagos found many giant tortoises with high ancestry from the extinct Floreana Island tortoise (Chelonoidis elephantopus).

Giant tortoises were transported by helicopter and then ship from the volcano's slopes to the Galápagos National Park Breeding Center on the central island of Santa Cruz.

DNA analyses used by the experts from the US, Belgium, Ecuador, Greece, Italy and Australia, then assigned the ancestry of the relocated tortoises using reference databases containing data from all extant and extinct species of Galápagos giant tortoises.

The 23 relocated tortoises found to have high ancestry to the extinct Floreana species are now being used in a genetically-informed captive breeding program that aims to repatriate this species to Floreana Island.

"Our discovery and the captive breeding program raises the possibility that the extinct Floreana species could be revived," says ARC Future Fellow Professor Beheregaray, from Flinders University's College of Science and Engineering (Biological Sciences).

Charles Darwin wrote about the harvesting of the species of tortoise found only on Floreana Island, which was exterminated within 15 years of his visit to the Galápagos in 1835.

Tortoises were removed from Floreana more than two centuries ago by mariners looking for food.

However, in 2008 the researchers found tortoises with the distinctive saddleback shells on Isabela, an island where native species have dome-shaped shells (see photo).

Several DNA-based analyses were then used to show that these animals were descendants of the Floreana species.

The latest study's coordinator Gisella Caccone, from Yale University, says it was ironical that the haphazard translocations by mariners killing tortoises for food some 200 years ago has now created the unique opportunity to revive this lost species today.

As a result of that discovery, the Galápagos National Park, together with the Galápagos Conservancy, carried out an ambitious, logistically complex, and strenuous expedition in late 2015 to find and relocate genetic relatives of the extinct species of tortoise and to launch a breeding program aimed at restoring them to their native island.

"That expedition was a success," says Professor Beheregaray.

The geneticists are now working together with the Galápagos National Park and the Galápagos Conservancy to implement a monitored breeding program with the animals relocated from Isabela Island.

This program will strive to preserve in future generations the diversity of the breeders and to maximise the Floreana species' genomic representation in their offspring.

The current plan is to release young tortoises on the island within five years.

More information: Joshua M. Miller et al. Identification of Genetically Important Individuals of the Rediscovered Floreana Galápagos Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis elephantopus) Provide Founders for Species Restoration Program, Scientific Reports (2017). Journal information: Scientific Reports Joshua M. Miller et al. Identification of Genetically Important Individuals of the Rediscovered Floreana Galápagos Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis elephantopus) Provide Founders for Species Restoration Program,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11516-2</s>An international expedition to a remote Galapagos Island rescued enough tortoises to start a breeding program that may help resurrect an extinct species, investigators from Yale University report Sept. 13 in the journal Science Reports. However, the search for genetic relatives of Lonesome George, the last tortoise of its species which died in 2012, came up empty.

Many members of the two species of tortoises — marked by the distinctive saddleback shape of their shells — were removed from their native islands of Floreana and Pinta more than two centuries ago by sailors looking for food. However, researchers in 2008 found tortoises with the distinctive saddleback shells on Isabela Island in the Galapagos where native species have dome-shaped shells. Subsequent DNA-based analyses showed these tortoises were descendants of species from Floreana and Pinta. Ancestors of these tortoises were probably thrown overboard by mariners who did not have space for them on ship, and then over generations they mated with native species. Tortoises have been extinct on Floreana for the past 150 years and Lonesome George was last tortoise alive on Pinta.

This discovery prompted the Galapagos National Park, together with the Galapagos Conservancy, to sponsor an expedition in 2015 to look for genetic relatives of the extinct species of tortoises and to launch a breeding program aimed at restoring them to their native islands.

“The irony is that these species have a second chance for same reason that they died out — their handling by mariners some 200 years ago,’’ said Yale’s Adalgisa “Gisella” Caccone, senior author of the paper.

The expedition found and removed for breeding 32 animals with relatively large percentages of their genome from the extinct species from the Floreana island but found no descendants from the species from Pinta, the home of Lonesome George. The investigators had previously estimated that there were about 60 genetic relatives of Pinta species living among 6,000 to 8,000 tortoises living on Isabela.

“If we get funding, we will go back and look for tortoises from Pinta lineage as well, we knew that they were harder to find than the ones from the Floreana species’,” Caccone said.

The goal under the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative of Galapagos Conservancy is to mate tortoises with high levels of DNA from extinct species, and reintroduce them on native Floreana and, perhaps one day, Pinta.

It will take many generations to “bring back” the extinct species from Floreana and possibly we will never have pure Floreana tortoises again, Caccone cautioned. “Of course, it is easier and faster to destroy than to restore,” she said.

The researchers are now working together with the Galápagos National Park and the Galápagos Conservancy on plans to develop a monitored breeding program with the animals retrieved from V. Wolf. This program will strive to preserve in future generations the diversity of the breeders and to maximize the Floreana species’ genomic representation in their offspring. The current plan is to release young tortoises on the island within five years, to jump-start the recovery of the island’s ecosystem which critically depends on its tortoises.

Major funding for the expedition was provided by the Galapagos National Park, Galapagos Conservancy, and National Geographic Society. The genetic analyses were supported by contributions from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Galápagos Conservancy, the Oak Foundation, and Turtles Conservancy.

Yale’s Maud Quinzin and Joshua Miller are co-lead authors of the paper. Researchers from several countries besides the US, including Australia, Belgium, Ecuador, Greece, and Italy were also involved in the study.</s>QUITO, Ecuador — Scientists in Ecuador’s Galapagos islands are hoping to restore a tortoise species believed extinct since the 1800s.

The Chelonoidis elephantopus lived on Floreana Island and was captured by seamen in large numbers for food during long journeys across the Pacific. The species is thought to have disappeared shortly after Charles Darwin’s celebrated visit to the treasured archipelago.

But a group of international scientists who collected 1,700 blood samples from tortoises on Isabel Island farther north during a research expedition in 2012 made a surprising discovery: 80 had genetic traces of the lost species.

“This is a species that was considered extinct for 160 years,” Washington Tapia, one of the scientists studying the tortoises, told The Associated Press. “We didn’t imagine what we would find.”

Researchers with the Galapagos Conservancy and the Galapagos National Park are now trying to restore the species by selecting 20 specimens with higher amounts of the Floreana tortoise in its DNA to reproduce.

“We are not going to have a perfect species, genetically 100 percent like the one that was in Floreana,” said Linda Cayot, a scientific consultant with the Galapagos Conservancy. “But we will have a tortoise population with many of the same genes as the original.”

Scientists believe sailors who caught Floreana tortoises for food sometimes dropped them off on Isabel Island in order to lighten a ship’s load before crossing the ocean. Isabel Island was typically the last stop before setting sail.

The scientists traveling to Isabel Island five years ago didn’t originally set out to research the Floreana species and were surprised when their samples revealed such high quantities of the extinct tortoise’s DNA.

The 20 tortoises identified as having the highest amounts of Floreana DNA have been placed in corrals containing three females and two males each in hopes of one day repopulating the island with close copies of the extinct species.

“We hear about extinctions and the damage humans can cause a species,” said Ecuadorean Minister for the Environment Tarsicio Granizo. “But today, with the results of this investigation, we can tell the world that it is possible to reverse negative effects on the environment. We are going to recover an extinct species.”

Jaime Chaves, an evolutionary biology professor at San Francisco University in Quito, described the study as an important example of how advancements in molecular science can potentially help reintroduce a bygone species.

“It’s very exciting to witness the reach of these genetic studies, identifying individuals with the potential to be a starting point for the recovery of a unique lineage believed extinct,” he said.</s>Scientists in Ecuador's Galapagos islands are hoping to restore a tortoise species believed to be extinct since the 1800s.

Chelonoidis elephantopus lived on Floreana Island and was captured by sailors in large numbers for food during long journeys across the Pacific.

The species is thought to have disappeared shortly after Charles Darwin's celebrated visit to the treasured archipelago in 1835.

HOW WILL THEY DO IT? It was driven to extinction in the 1800s after it was captured by sailors in large numbers for food. In 2012, a group of international scientists collected 1,700 blood samples from tortoises on nearby Isabel Island. They found that 80 of the samples had genetic traces of the lost Floreana species. Researchers will now attempt to restore the tortoises by selecting 20 specimens with higher amounts of the Floreana tortoise in its DNA to reproduce. While the results won't be a 'perfect' restoration, the team will have a tortoise population with many of the same genes as the original.

But a group of international scientists who collected 1,700 blood samples from tortoises on Isabel Island farther north during a 2012 research expedition made a surprising discovery: 80 had genetic traces of the lost species.

'This is a species that was considered extinct for 160 years,' Dr Washington Tapia, one of the scientists studying the tortoises, told The Associated Press.

'We didn't imagine what we would find.'

Researchers with the Galapagos Conservancy and the Galapagos National Park are now trying to restore the species.

They will select 20 specimens with higher amounts of the Floreana tortoise in its DNA to reproduce.

'We are not going to have a perfect species, genetically 100 per cent like the one that was in Floreana,' said Dr Linda Cayot, a scientific consultant with the Galapagos Conservancy.

'But we will have a tortoise population with many of the same genes as the original.'

Scientists believe sailors who caught Floreana tortoises for food sometimes dropped them off on Isabel Island in order to lighten a ship's load before crossing the ocean.

Isabel Island was typically the last stop before setting sail.

The scientists travelling to Isabel Island five years ago didn't originally set out to research the Floreana species.

During his famed visits to the Galapagos Islands in 1835, Charles Darwin described how several species had adapted to their environment. Darwin spotted that some Galapagos Giant Tortoises (pictured) had evolved long necks that can reach vertically One of these species was the Galapagos Giant Tortoise, which Darwin noted had different shell shapes on different islands. Tortoises found on the well-watered islands, with short, cropped vegetation, had gently curved front edges to their shell. Tortoises found on more arid islands had to stretch their necks to reach the higher branches of cacti and other vegetation. These tortoises had longer necks and a high peak to the front edges of their shells, which enabled them to stretch their heads almost vertically. Findings such as these were the foundation for Darwin's Theory of Evolution, which shows that species adapt over time to their surroundings.

They were surprised when their samples revealed such high quantities of the extinct tortoise's DNA.

The 20 tortoises identified as having the highest amounts of Floreana DNA have been placed in corrals containing three females and two males each in hopes of one day repopulating the island with close copies of the extinct species.

'We hear about extinctions and the damage humans can cause a species,' said Ecuadorean Minister for the Environment Tarsicio Granizo.

'But today, with the results of this investigation, we can tell the world that it is possible to reverse negative effects on the environment.

'We are going to recover an extinct species.'

Jaime Chaves, an evolutionary biology professor at San Francisco University, described the study as an important example of how science can help reintroduce a bygone species.

'It's very exciting to witness the reach of these genetic studies, identifying individuals with the potential to be a starting point for the recovery of a unique lineage believed extinct,' he said.</s>A species of Galapagos giant tortoise thought to have been made extinct 150 years ago will be bred in captivity, officials said, after DNA studies showed specimens discovered in the last decade shared similar genetic makeup.

The breeding program involving 32 tortoises -- 19 of which are descended from the Chelonoidis nigra species in question -- will allow for medium-term repopulation of their native Floreana Island, the Galapagos Islands National Park said Wednesday.

The Chelonoidis nigra species was wiped out on Floreana Island by whalers who took them on ships as food, abandoning some on the slopes of Isabela Island's Wolf Volcano to lighten their load.

Species with similar genetics have since been found on Isabela Island, where researchers from the National Park and Galapagos Conservancy analyzed 150 tortoises during expeditions in 2008 and 2015.

The breeding program will help "repopulate Floreana Island with tortoises which aren't exactly the same, but have very high genetic links to its native species," Washington Tapia, director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, told AFP.

In 2015, Ecuador announced the discovery of the Chelonoidis donfaustoi species on the Galapagos, bringing the total number of Galapagos giant tortoise species to 15 -- of which three are extinct.

The Galapagos Islands, which served as a laboratory to English naturalist Charles Darwin, have enjoyed World Heritage Site status since 1979.</s>Scientists believe they have recovered enough huge Galapagos Island tortoises to begin a breeding programme that will see a once extinct species making a comeback. Ironically, the ancient mariners who brought about the extinction of the impressive “saddle-backed” Floreana giant tortoise two hundred years ago may also have played an unwitting role in its reprise. By the time that Darwin arrived on Floreana in 1835, the tortoise was already walking towards oblivion, with the great scientist remarking on the number of carcasses littering the island and the fact there were no living ones to study. Within 15 years the species was officially labelled extinct.

So many of the 900lb reptiles were taken for food by early sailors that large numbers were often thrown overboard alive – only for the stately creatures to swim ashore on to other islands and start mating with the native giant tortoise species. The journal, Science Reports, reveals how a recent expedition to the island of Isabela has recovered significant amounts of DNA originating from those long extinct survivors to begin a breeding programme. Sadly, hopes of finding genetic relatives of Lonesome George – the famous giant tortoise from the island of Pinta and once described as the rarest creature on the planet – have so far drawn a blank.

His death meant the extinction of the species in 2012. It was after researchers discovered how some of the giant tortoises on Isabela Island had distinctive saddleback shells – reminiscent of the Floreana and Pinta types – rather than the typical dome-shaped shells of the native kind that hopes were sparked of making a DNA breakthrough. The Galapagos National Park along with Galapagos Conservancy subsequently sponsored an expedition which has led to 32 tortoises with relatively large amounts of their genome dating back to the Floreana Island species being removed for breeding. Sadly, there were no descendants from the Pinta species rediscovered.

Under the auspices of the Galapagos Conservancy’s Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, the plan is to mate those animals with the highest amounts of DNA dating back to the extinct species and eventually reintroduce their offspring back to Floreana. There are hopes that youngsters will start being released within the next five years, a move that will also play an important role in restoring Floreana’s ecosystem which was critically dependent on its unique tortoise species. Yale University’s Adalgisa “Gisella” Caccone, senior author of the paper, said: “The irony is that these species have a second chance for same reason that they died out: their handling by mariners some 200 years ago." Yet she admits it may take many generations to “bring back” the species, with the possibility that there will never be pure Floreana ones in the future.

She said: “It is easier and faster to destroy than to restore. “If we get funding, we will go back and look for tortoises from Pinta lineage as well, we knew that they were harder to find than the ones from the Floreana species.” In the Ecuadorean capital of Quito, the country’s environment minister Tarsico Granizo revealed his excitement for the project, declaring: “We hear about extinctions and the damage humans can cause a species, but with the results of this investigation, we can tell the world that it is possible to reverse negative effects on the environment. "We are going to recover an extinct species.”</s>This photo released by Galapagos National Park on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2017 shows a turtle with genes from an extinct species of turtles that disappeared about 167 years ago, in Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. The species, Chelonoidis elephantopus, endemic to Floreana Island, was believed to be lost forever, but its genetic trail was found by chance on Wolf Volcano. (Galapagos National Park via AP)

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — In a story Sept. 13 about efforts to restore an extinct tortoise species in the Galapagos Islands, The Associated Press misidentified the name of the island where some tortoises still have genetic traces of the Chelonoidis elephantopus. It is Isabela Island, not Isabel Island.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Scientists in Ecuador's Galapagos islands are hoping to restore a tortoise species believed to have been hunted into extinction on Floreana Island in the 1800s

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Scientists in Ecuador's Galapagos islands are hoping to restore a tortoise species believed extinct since the 1800s.

The Chelonoidis elephantopus lived on Floreana Island and was captured by seamen in large numbers for food during long journeys across the Pacific. The species is thought to have disappeared shortly after Charles Darwin's celebrated visit to the treasured archipelago.

But a group of international scientists who collected 1,700 blood samples from tortoises on Isabela Island farther north during a research expedition in 2012 made a surprising discovery: 80 had genetic traces of the lost species.

"This is a species that was considered extinct for 160 years," Washington Tapia, one of the scientists studying the tortoises, told The Associated Press. "We didn't imagine what we would find."

Researchers with the Galapagos Conservancy and the Galapagos National Park are now trying to restore the species by selecting 20 specimens with higher amounts of the Floreana tortoise in its DNA to reproduce.

"We are not going to have a perfect species, genetically 100 percent like the one that was in Floreana," said Linda Cayot, a scientific consultant with the Galapagos Conservancy. "But we will have a tortoise population with many of the same genes as the original."

Scientists believe sailors who caught Floreana tortoises for food sometimes dropped them off on Isabela Island in order to lighten a ship's load before crossing the ocean. Isabela Island was typically the last stop before setting sail.

The scientists traveling to Isabela Island five years ago didn't originally set out to research the Floreana species and were surprised when their samples revealed such high quantities of the extinct tortoise's DNA.

The 20 tortoises identified as having the highest amounts of Floreana DNA have been placed in corrals containing three females and two males each in hopes of one day repopulating the island with close copies of the extinct species.

"We hear about extinctions and the damage humans can cause a species," said Ecuadorean Minister for the Environment Tarsicio Granizo. "But today, with the results of this investigation, we can tell the world that it is possible to reverse negative effects on the environment. We are going to recover an extinct species."

Jaime Chaves, an evolutionary biology professor at San Francisco University in Quito, described the study as an important example of how advancements in molecular science can potentially help reintroduce a bygone species.

"It's very exciting to witness the reach of these genetic studies, identifying individuals with the potential to be a starting point for the recovery of a unique lineage believed extinct," he said.</s>QUITO: A species of Galapagos giant tortoise thought to have been made extinct 150 years ago will be bred in captivity, officials said, after DNA studies showed specimens discovered in the last decade shared similar genetic makeup.

The breeding programme involving 32 tortoises – 19 of which are descended from the Chelonoidis nigra species in question – will allow for medium-term repopulation of their native Floreana Island, the Galapagos Islands National Park said on Wednesday (Sep 13).

The Chelonoidis nigra species was wiped out on Floreana Island by whalers who took them on ships as food, abandoning some on the slopes of Isabela Island’s Wolf Volcano to lighten their load.

Species with similar genetics have since been found on Isabela Island, where researchers from the National Park and Galapagos Conservancy analysed 150 tortoises during expeditions in 2008 and 2015.
Scientists hope to revive the extinct Floreana island tortoise using a 'genetically-informed' captive breeding program with the tortoises closest ancestors.