Discover the new giant turtle on Galapagos island

Based on genetic data, scientists have identified a new species of giant "family" of turtles on the Galapagos Islands, located off the coast of Ecuador about 1,000km.

Discover new giant turtles

This is the 15th species discovered so far on the archipelago, 4 of which are now extinct.

According to the BBC on October 22, the new turtle named Chelonoidis donfaustoi , named after the retired Galapagos rangers. They live on the eastern island of Santa Cruz, so they are also called East Santa Cruz turtles .

Gisella Caccione, a biologist at Yale University, said the "population" of this turtle is currently only about 250 and classified as easily extinct.

The giant Chelonoidis donfaustoi has just been identified by scientists - (Photo: Reuters).

Giant tortoises in the Galapagos are endemic species not found anywhere else in the world. They can weigh up to 250kg and live longer than 100 years.

In an official announcement, the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment said that experts have long believed that two giant populations of turtles on Santa Cruz Island are the same species, but recent genetic tests show that there are actually two species. different.

"We hope this new finding will boost efforts to protect and restore the population of turtles in the eastern part of Santa Cruz," Caccione said.

According to estimates by Ecuadorian scientist Washington Tapia, the number of turtles in the western part of Santa Cruz Island is about thousands, while in the east only a few hundred.