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Chelonoidis guntheri
(Baur, 1889)
Chelonoidis guntheri
English Common Name: Sierra Negra Galapagos Tortoise
Spanish Common Name: Tortuga Gigante de Sierra Negra
Taxonomic Comments: Syn.: Geochelone guntheri (Baur, 1889), Testudo guntheri Baur, 1889, Chelonoidis guntheri Baur, 1889; Type specimen: Oxford Museum, England; According to Márquez et al. (2004) and Poulakakis et al. (2008) the Geochelone taxa from Galapagos are genetically distinct and therefore treated as species and not as subspecies of Geochelone nigra.
Name Status: Accepted name; taxon occurs in Galapagos.
Origin
- In
Introduced - Na
Native
-
En
EndemicTaxon occurs only in Galapagos.
-
Hy
Hypothetical -
Id
Indigenous -
Mi
Migrant -
EnQ
Questionable Endemic -
Re
Resident -
Va
Vagrant
IUCN Status
Critically Endangered - Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
The IUCN Red List assessments presented here may deviate from the global IUCN listings for the following reasons:
- for well-known species groups, such as vascular plants or vertebrates, updates proposed to the IUCN are shown, rather than the outdated, but currently-used status;
- for poorly-known species groups, such as lichenized fungi, a general assessment is not currently possible, therefore the list presented here is the regional IUCN Red List for the Galapagos Archipelago.
Distribution
Regions: Isabela.
Distribution Comments: Restricted to Sierra Negra Volcano on Isabela Island.
Please be aware that this distribution map is automatically generated from database records (CDF and external specimens, literature records, and observations) and may not accurately reflect the currently-known distribution for all species.
Literature
- Caccone, A., Gibbs, J.P., Ketmaier, V., Suatoni, E. and Powell, J.R. (1999) Origin and evolutionary relationships of giant Galapagos tortoises. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 96(23): 13223-13228.
- Carrillo, E., Aldás, S., Altamirano, M., Ayala, F., Cisneros, D., Endara, A., et al. (2005) Lista roja de los reptiles del Ecuador. Fundación Novum Milenium, IUCN-Sur, IUCN-Comité Ecuatoriano, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Serie Proyecto PEEPE. Quito, Ecuador.
- Ernst, C.H., Barbour, r.W. (1989) Turtles of the world. Smithsonian Instit. Press. USA 313 pp.
- Fritts, T.H. (2001) A brief review of the taxonomic history of Galapagos Tortoise relevant to consideration of the most appropiate generic and specifc name for Giant Tortoises in Galapagos. U.S. Geological survey Report. 7 pp.
- Heller, E. (1903) Reptiles. In Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition 1898-1899. Proceedings of the Washington Academy Sciences 5: 39-98.
- IUCN (2010) IUCN Red list of threatened species. Version 2010.1. www.iucnredlist.org
- Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Milstead, B., Márquez, C., Zabala, J., Buitrón, P., Llerena, A., et al. (2007) Galapagos vertebrates: endangered status and conservation actions. Galapagos Report 2006–2007: 104–110. Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora.
- Le, M., Raxworthy, C.J., McCord, W.P., Mertz, L. (2006) A molecular phylogeny of tortoises (Testudines: Testudinidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40 (2006) 517–531
- Márquez, C., Wiedenfeld, D.A., Snell, H.L., Fritts, T., MacFarland, C., Tapia, W., & Naranjo, S. (2004) Population status of Giant Land Tortoises (Geochelone spp., Chelonya: Testudinae) from the Galapagos Islands. Ecología Aplicada 3 (1, 2): 98-111.
- Poulakakis, N., Glaberman, S., Russello, M., Beheregaray, L.B., Ciofi, C., Powell, J.R. & Caccone, A. (2008) Historical DNA analysis reveals living descendants of an extinct species of Galápagos tortoise. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 105(49): 15464-15469.
- Russello M.A., Poulakakis, N., Gibbs, J.P., Tapia, W., Benavides, E., Powell, J.R., Caccone, A. (2010) DNA from the Past Informs Ex Situ Conservation for the Future: An ‘Extinct’’ Species of Gala´pagos Tortoise Identified in Captivity. PLoS ONE 5(1): e8683. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008683
- Slevin, J.R. (1935) An account of the reptiles inhabiting the Galapagos Islands. Bulletin New York Zoological Society 1(38): 3-24.
- Van Denburgh, J. (1914) The gigantic land tortoises of the Galápagos archipelago. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 2, part 1: 203–374, pls. 12-124.