It's humbling to think of seeing an entire subspecies being wiped out by this one simple event.
I saw Lonesome George in person just last December - although at a fair distance (he wasn't particularly friendly to the tourists!)
On the same trip we saw a whole new hybrid species that had never been seen before - as confirmed by the scientists at the same place that George lived. The whole cycle of evolution is visible in a very small and isolated location.
- "Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind."
- "Some 20,000 giant tortoises still live on the Galapagos."
That confused me a bit. My interpretation is that Lonesome George belonged to a species of giant tortoises that is not extinct, but there are still several other species of giant tortoises in the wild. Is that correct?
7 comments
[ 0.23 ms ] story [ 25.6 ms ] threadI saw Lonesome George in person just last December - although at a fair distance (he wasn't particularly friendly to the tourists!)
On the same trip we saw a whole new hybrid species that had never been seen before - as confirmed by the scientists at the same place that George lived. The whole cycle of evolution is visible in a very small and isolated location.
In Galapagos? Who would have thought!
"[] often had to scramble with each other to take pictures of one of the rarest creatures on Earth."
And another: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_-Pinta_gia...
This is a QI segment where they discuss the near extinction of tortoises:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3sZgh5xeM#t=8m42s