Extinct Galapagos tortoises may live again
Scientists say they could bring an extinct species of Galapagos tortoise back to life after discovering genetic traces of them in their descendants.
Boffins say cross-breeding the relatives of the Geochelone elephantopus could re-create the extinct species - though it could take a century.
But 98 of those years would be taken up by the tortoise walking to the lab.
The animal is one of 15 species of giant tortoise which played a part in Charles Darwin formulating his theory of evolution - of those, four have since gone extinct.
Experts from Yale University used museum specimens and current molecular technology to paint a new picture of the origins and future of some of the tortoises.
Of particular note, the team found tortoises on Volcano Wolf of the island Isabella that had both the mitochondrial DNA and nuclear markers of the Floreana lineage.
Genes of the famous "Lonesome George" were also found in the Volcano Wolf population.
Hybrids of the extinct Floreana tortoise line theoretically now could be bred, the researchers say, and over a long span, revive this species.
With this in mind, an expedition on Volcano Wolf is planned in December 2008 to look for tortoises bearing the Floreana lineage.
Work is also under way to completely sequence the tortoise genome to gain a better understanding of these animals.
LINKS
blog comments powered by Disqus
