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Aldabra giant tortoise
| Aldabra giant tortoise | |
|---|---|
| |
| Beauval Zoo, France | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
| Family: | Testudinidae |
| Genus: | Aldabrachelys |
| Species: | A. gigantea
|
| Binomial name | |
| Aldabrachelys gigantea (Schweigger, 1812)
| |
| Synonyms[6] | |
| |
The Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and genus Aldabrachelys. The species is endemic to the Seychelles, with the nominate subspecies, A. g. gigantea native to Aldabra atoll. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world.[7] Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.[8]
Many of the Indian Ocean species were thought to be driven to extinction by over-exploitation by European sailors, and they were all seemingly extinct by 1840 with the exception of the Aldabran giant tortoise on the island atoll of Aldabra.[9] Although some remnant individuals of A. g. hololissa and A. g. arnoldi may remain in captivity,[9] in recent times, these have all been reduced as subspecies of A. gigantea.[6]
- ^ Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996). "Geochelone gigantea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T9010A12949962. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T9010A12949962.en.
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ Schweigger, Augustus F. (1812). "Prodromus monographiae Cheloniorum". Königsberger Archiv für Naturwissenschaft und Mathematik 1:271–368, 406–462.
- ^ Duméril, André Marie Constant, and Bibron, Gabriel. (1835). Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Tome Second. Paris: Roret.
- ^ Günther, Albert C.L.G. 1877. The Gigantic Land-Tortoises (Living and Extinct) in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Taylor and Francis, 96 pp.
- ^ a b Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Rhodin, A.G.J., Shaffer, H.B., and Bour, R.]. 2014. Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 5(7):000.329–479 Archived 2014-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, doi:10.3854/ crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014.
- ^ Pritchard, Peter C.H. (1979) Encyclopedia of Turtles. Neptune, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd.
- ^ Palkovacs, Eric P.; Gerlach, Justin; Caccone, Adalgisa (2002). "The evolutionary origin of Indian Ocean tortoises (Dipsochelys)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 24 (2): 216–227. doi:10.1016/s1055-7903(02)00211-7. hdl:10161/6529. PMID 12144758. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
- ^ a b Palkovacs, Eric P.; Marschner, Monique; Ciofi, Claudio; Gerlach, Justin; Caccone, Adalgisa (2003). "Are the native giant tortoises from the Seychelles really extinct? A genetic perspective based on mtDNA and microsatellite data" (PDF). Molecular Ecology. 12 (6): 1403–1413. Bibcode:2003MolEc..12.1403P. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01834.x. hdl:10161/6530. PMID 12755870. S2CID 10014935. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
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