Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2010 / January / 14 / Nine captive tortoises found to be descendants of 'extinct' species

Nine captive tortoises found to be descendants of 'extinct' species

January 14, 2010

Breeding could see species returned to Galápagos island home

UBC Okanagan conservation geneticist Michael Russello with a Galápagos giant tortoise.

New genetic research has identified nine captive giant tortoises as descendants of an “extinct” species formerly endemic to Floreana Island in the Pacific’s Galápagos Islands.

“Based upon our findings, we now have an opportunity to breed the species and maintain the integrity of this distinct lineage,” says Michael Russello, a conservation geneticist at UBC Okanagan.

The species known as Chelonoidis elephantopus went extinct on Floreana Island in the 20th century due to human activities. The ultimate goal is to eventually repatriate the lost tortoise species on Floreana so the island can one day support a self-sustaining breeding population of the endemic giant tortoise.

“This is a story where humans can potentially right some previous wrongs,” Russello says.

The discovery of captive individuals of Floreana ancestry was made possible, in part, by the availability of new genetic data from specimens of extinct species of Galápagos tortoises housed in various natural history museum collections. Armed with reference population genetic data from the extinct Floreana species, Russello and colleagues were able to reanalyze previous DNA samples taken from living giant Galápagos tortoises in captivity.

“We found nine tortoises that shared a high percentage of their sampled genome with the Floreana ‘extinct’ species – up to 94 per cent – and one tortoise may even be a pure-bred,” says Russello. “The detection of these giant tortoises in captivity is particularly significant, as it enables a captive breeding program to get underway almost immediately.

“It was also quite exciting that theses tortoises (six females and three males) are already living in captivity on Santa Cruz Island at the Galápagos National Park breeding centre, greatly facilitating conservation action.”

Spearheaded by Adalgisa Caccone and Jeffery Powell at Yale University, who established the Galápagos tortoise conservation genetics program, the research is truly an international, collaborative effort involving a number of different universities, museums and organizations throughout the world, adds Russello, who has been involved with Galápagos tortoise research efforts since 2003.

Russello’s finding were published this week in the peer-reviewed online Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE and is available at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008683

— 30 —

Media Contact

Jody Jacob
E-mail: Jody.Jacob@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Uncategorized

Trending Stories

  • Reducing the side effects of cancer therapy
  • Psychedelic mushroom microdoses can improve mood, mental health
  • UBCO’s largest graduating class marks 20 years of growth
  • How one student connects AI innovation to wildfire research
  • Indigenous language degrees move us a step closer to reconciliation
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility