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Cylindraspis indica Schneider, 1783:355

Réunion giant tortoise

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Chersina grayi Strauch, 1865:36; Chersine retusa Merrem, 1820:29; Cylindraspis borbonica Bour, 1978 (1979?); Cylindraspis graii Duméril & Bibron, 1835:135; Testudo graii Duméril & Bibron, 1835:135; Testudo indica Schneider, 1783:355; Testudo perraultii Duméril & Bibron, 1835:126; Testudo tabulata africana Schweigger, 1812:322

 

Réunion giant tortoises are now generally regarded as a single species, however (Gerlach, 2004) recognized two species (i.e. C. indica and C. borbonica).

 

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: 1800 (World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 1996)

IUCN RedList status: Extinct

 

Distribution

Réunion, Mascarene Islands

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

 

 

Media

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Schneider, J. G. (1783). Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Schildkröten, nebst einem systematischen Verzeichnisse der einzelnen Arten und zwei Kupfern. Leipzig: J.G. Müller, 364 pp.

 

Other references:

Arnold, E. N. 1979. Indian Ocean giant tortoises: their systematics and island adaptations. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 286: 127-145.

Arnold, E. N. 1980. Recently extinct reptile populations from Mauritius and Réunion, Indian Ocean. J. Zool. 191: 33-47.

Austin, Jeremy J. and Arnold, E. Nicholas. (2001). Ancient mitochondrial DNA and morphology elucidate an extinct island radiation of Indian Ocean giant tortoises (Cylindraspis). Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 268: 2515-2523.

Austin, Jeremy, Arnold, E. Nicholas and Bour, Roger. (2002). The provenance of type specimens of extinct Mascarene Island giant tortoises (Cylindraspis) revealed by ancient mitochondrial DNA sequences. Journal of Herpetology 36(2): 280-285. [Abstract]

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (eds). 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. pp. 378. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Bour, Roger. (1979a). Première découverte de restes osseux de la Tortue terrestre de la Réunion, Cylindraspis borbonica. C.R. Acad. Sci., Paris 288D: 1223-1226. ["botbonica"?]

Bour, Roger. (1979b). [additional illustration of [i]C. borbonica[/i] to (Bour, 1979a)]. Info-Nature, Ile Réunion 17: 53-59.

Bour, Roger. (1981). Histoire de la tortue terrestre de Bourbon. Bull. Acad. Ile Réunion 25: 98-147.

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].

Bour, Roger. (2004). Holotype of "La grande tortue des Indes" in Perrault, 1676 - Cylindraspis indica (Schneider, 1783). Emys 11: 33-35.

Day, David. (1981). The Doomsday Book of Animals: A Natural History of Vanished Species. New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press.

Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. (1835). Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p.

Gerlach, Justin. (2004). Giant tortoises of the Indian Ocean. The genus Dipsochelys inhabiting the Seychelles Islands and the extinct giants of Madagascar and the Mascarenes. Frankfurt m Main: Edition Chimaira. 207 pp.

Groombridge, B. 1992. Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth’s Living Resources. Report compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Chapman and Hall, London.

Groombridge, B. (ed.). 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Kehlmaier, Christian et al. (2019). Ancient mitogenomics clarifies radiation of extinct Mascarene giant tortoises (Cylindraspis spp.). Scientific Reports 9: 17487.

Kehlmaier, C., Graciá, E., Ali, J.R., Campbell, P.D., Chapman, S.D., Deepak, V., Ihlow, F., Jalil, N.-E., Pierre-Huyet, L., Samonds, K.E., Vences, M., Fritz, U. (2023). Ancient DNA elucidates the lost world of western Indian Ocean giant tortoises and reveals a new species from Madagascar. Science Advances 9(2): eabq2574. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq2574

Maas, P. H. J. (2010). Reunion Giant Tortoise - Cylindraspis indica. In: TSEW (2010). The Sixth Extinction Website. (http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct). Downloaded on December 11, 2010.

Merrem, B. (1820). Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien. Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum. Marburg: J.C. Krieger, 191 pp.

Probst, Jean-Michel and Brial, Pierre. (2002). Récits anciens de naturalistes à l'île Bourbon. Le premiere guide des espèces disparus de la Réunion (reptiles, oiseaux, mammifères). Le Port, Réunion: Association Nature et Patrimoine. 112 pp.

Regalado, Pedro Galán. (2015). Los Anfibios y Reptiles Extinguidos: Herpetofauna Desaparecida Desde el Año 1500. Monografías de la Universidade da Coruña 155: 1-509.

Ribes, Sonia (ed.). (2006). Les animaux disparus. Saint-Denis: Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. 32 pp.

Schweigger, A. F. (1812). Prodromus monographiae Cheloniorum. Königsberger Archiv für Naturwissenschaft und Mathematik 1: 271-368, 406-462.

Strauch, A. (1865). Die Vertheilung der Schildkröten über den Erdball. Ein zoogeographischer versuch. Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St.-Pétersbourg (7)8(13): 1-207.

Turtle Extinctions Working Group et al. (2015). Turtles and Tortoises of the World During the Rise and Global Spread of Humanity: First Checklist and Review of Extinct Pleistocene and Holocene Chelonians. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5: 1-66.

World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Cylindraspis indica. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 30 January 2014.

World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1996. Cylindraspis indica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1996: e.T6061A12383518. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T6061A12383518.en. Accessed on 02 July 2022.

http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/10113/cylindraspis-indica-union-giant-tortoise

 

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