Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi Bour, 1982
Arnold's giant tortoise
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Dipsochelys arnoldi Bour, 1982; Testudo elephantina Dumeril & Bibron, 1835; Testudo vosmaeri Dumeril & Bibron, 1854; Testudo indica Schneider, 1783; Testudo vosmaeri Fitzinger, 1826; Testudo daudinii Dumeril & Bibron, 1835; Dipsochelys arnoldi Bour, 1982; Dipsochelys arnoldi Lucker, 2000; Aldabrachelys arnoldi (Bour, 1982)
Conservation Status
Formerly extinct in the wild
Distribution
Seychelles
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Bour, Roger. (1982). Contribution à la connaissance des tortues terrestres des Seychelles: définition du genre endémique et description d'une espéce nouvelle probablement originaire des îles granitiques et au borde de l'extinction. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances. Academie des Sciences (Paris). 195:117-122.
Other references:
Austin, J. J., Arnold, E. N. and Bour, Roger. (2003). Was there a second adaptive radiation of giant tortoises in the Indian Ocean? Using mitochondrial DNA to investigate speciation and biogeography of Aldabrachelys (Reptilia, Testudinidae). Molecular Ecology 12: 1415-1424.
Bour, R. (1984). Taxonomy, history and geography of Seychelles land Tortoises and fresh-water Turtles. In: Stoddart, D. R. (eds.). Biogeography and Ecology of the Seychelles Islands. The Hague: Junk.
Bour, Roger. (1985 "1984"). Les tortues terrestres géantes des îles de l’océan Indien occidental: données géographiques, taxinomiques et phylogénétiques, pp. 17-76. In: F. de Broin and E. Jiménez-Fuentes (Eds.) Comunicaciones del I Simposium Internacional sobre Quelonios Fósiles, París, Octubre, 1983. Studia Geologica Salmanticensia, Volumen Especial 1 (Studia Palaeocheloniologica I) [1984].
Gerlach, Justin. (1999). On the first recorded observation of egg-laying in Dipsochelys arnoldi. Phelsuma 7: 79-83.
Gerlach, Justin. (1999). Feeding behaviour and the saddle-back shell of Dipsochelys arnoldi. Chelonian Conservation & Biology 3: 496-500.
Gerlach, Justin. (2003). Captive breeding of [i]Dipsochelys[/i] giant tortoises. Phelsuma 11: 8-12.
Gerlach, Justin. (2007). Giant tortoises of the Indian Ocean. Testudo 6(4): [pagination?].
Gerlach, Justin. (2009). Aldabrachelys arnoldi (Bour, 1982) - Arnold's giant tortoise, pp. 028.1-028.5. In: Rhodin, A. G. J., Pritchard, P. C. H., van Dijk, P. P., Saumure, R. A., Buhlmann, K. A., Iverson, J. B. and Mittermeier, , R. A. (eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5.
Gerlach, Justin. (2011). Development of Distinct Morphotypes in Captive Seychelles–Aldabra Giant Tortoises. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10(1): 102-112. [Abstract]
Gerlach, Justin. (2012). Skeletal ontogeny of Seychelles giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys/Dipsochelys). Scientific Research and Essays 7(9): 1083-1099.
Gerlach, Justin. (undated). Release of Arnold’s giant tortoises Dipsochelys arnoldi on Silhouette island, Seychelles. Unpublished?
Gerlach, Justin and Canning, K. L. (1996). On the Seychelles Giant Tortoise; its rediscovery and prospects for conservation. Proceedings of the International Congress of Chelonian Conservation, pp. 131-135.
Gerlach, Justin and Canning, K. L. (1998a). Taxonomy of Indian Ocean tortoises (Dipsochelys). Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3: 3-19.
Gerlach, Justin and Canning, K. L. (1998b) Identification of Seychelles giant tortoises. Linnaeus fund research report. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3: 133-135.
Palkovacs, Eric P., Gerlach, Justin and Caccone, A. (2002). The evolutionary origin of Indian Ocean giant tortoises. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 24: 216-227.
Palkovacs, Eric P. et al. (2003). Are the native giant tortoises from the Seychelles really extinct? A genetic perspective based on mtDNA and microsatellite data. Molecular Ecology 12(6): 1403-1413.
Pawlowski, Sascha and Gerlach, Justin. (2018). Remarks on the first breeding success of free living Arnold's giant tortoises [i]Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi[/i] (Bour, 1982) at Grand Barbe, Silhouette, Seychelles. Phelsuma 26: 1-9.
Pawlowski, Sascha and Gerlach, Justin. (2019). Status update on Arnold's giant tortoises Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi (Bour, 1982) at Silhouette, Seychelles. Phelsuma 27: 10-17.
Uetz, P. et. al., The Reptile Database, http://www.reptile-database.org , accessed December 11, 2010.
http://islandbiodiversity.com/tortoise.htm
http://wzd.cz/zoo/AF/SC/giant_tortoise_farm_silhouette/files/pdf/testudo2005.pdf
http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/13123/seychelles-giant-tortoise