Chelonoidis chathamensis (Van Denburgh, 1907)
San Cristóbal giant tortoise, Chatham Island giant tortoise
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonyms: Testudo chathamensis Van Denburgh, 1907; Geochelone elephantopus chathamensis (Van Denburgh, 1907); Geochelone nigra chathamensis (Van Denburgh, 1907); Chelonoidis nigra chathamensis (Van Denburgh, 1907)
Conservation Status
Missing
Last record: 1906
IUCN RedList status: Endangered
Distribution
San Cristóbal (=Chatham Island), Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Van Denburgh, J. (1907). Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos Islands, 1905-1906. I. Preliminary descriptions of four new races of gigantic land tortoises from the Galapagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 1(4): 1-6.
Other references:
Caccone, A., Cayot, L. J., Gibbs, J. P. and Tapia, W. (2017). Chelonoidis chathamensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T9019A82688009. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T9019A82688009.en. Accessed on 30 November 2022.
Conrad, Cyler et al. (2022). Galápagos tortoise stable isotope ecology and the 1850s Floreana Island Chelonoidis niger niger extinction. Scientific Reports 12: 22187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26631-y
Gaughran, Stephen J. et al. (2023). Whole-genome sequencing confirms multiple species of Galapagos giant tortoises. bioRxiv preprint. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.05.535692
Jensen, Evelyn L. et al. (2022). A new lineage of Galapagos giant tortoises identified from museum samples. Heredity 128: 261-270. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-022-00510-8