Yesterday was a sad day for science, as Lonesome George, the last known member of Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni - The Pinta Island giant tortoise dies, marking the extinction of the species.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18574279

I hope and expect that they have some good clonable DNA material stored if they wish to someday try to bring back his species.

I blame the goats. (joking)

 

Just read that they could live for a year or more without food or water, so fishermen kept them on boats for fresh meat without any expense to care for them. That's disgusting.

Edited June 28, 201213 yr by Appolinaria

I blame the goats. (joking)

 

Just read that they could live for a year or more without food or water, so fishermen kept them on boats for fresh meat without any expense to care for them. That's disgusting.

 

Yup, pretty sad concerning cruelty to animals Islands goats probably competed for their habitat ? If so there's lots of other bad things happening that also need scape goats

Edited June 28, 201213 yr by pantheory

I blame the goats. (joking)

 

Just read that they could live for a year or more without food or water, so fishermen kept them on boats for fresh meat without any expense to care for them. That's disgusting.

 

Yeah, apparently in the early days they were literally "stacked" on board the ships. Not always pleasant reading from those times.

 

Have to visit them at the Zoo this summer. They are magnificent animals.

Not lonesome george!If he was the last giant tortoise doesn't that mean that things were screwed when the last "female" giant tortoise died, the first time explorers from England (my country) found these giant tortoises, they put a huge bunch on the boat to be named when they got back to England, after this this attempt it took 100+ years to name the giant tortoise because sadly, none of the specimens made it back to England, it turned out that they are extremely tasty and after eating them all, they had lots of fresh naturally filtered water left over in their shells