Lonesome George the last of the
Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise
died today.
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With no offspring and no known individuals from his subspecies left, Lonesome George became known as the rarest creature in the world.
For decades, environmentalists unsuccessfully tried to get the Pinta Island tortoise to reproduce with females from a similar subspecies on the Galapagos Islands.
Park officials said the tortoise was found dead in his corral by his keeper of 40 years, Fausto Llerena.
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Although not unexpected, it is still a pretty sad day for biodiversity.
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George was first seen on the island of Pinta on 1 December 1971 by Hungarian malacologist József Vágvölgyi. The island's vegetation had been devastated by introduced feral goats, and the indigenous C. n. abingdoni population had been reduced to a single individual.
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Quote:
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A prolonged effort to exterminate goats introduced to Pinta is now complete, and the vegetation of the island is starting to return to its former state.[citation needed] The presence of mixed race Pinta ancestry tortoises around Wolf Volcano, on neighbouring Isabela island, suggests the recent presence of at least one Pinta individual near Wolf Volcano. A possible pure-breed Pinta candidate, male and dubbed "Tony", lives in a Prague zoo. A reward of $10,000 was offered for the discovery of a Pinta female to help save the subspecies.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelono...igra_abingdoni
One day I would love to hear about the extinction of the subspecies homo sapiens stultus.