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Lonesome George, last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise, dies
- tomfakes 14y agoIt'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.
- batista 14y ago>The whole cycle of evolution is visible in a very small and isolated location. In Galapagos? Who would have thought!
- apricot13 14y agoIts a bit strange to have an article about the last of a kind animal doesn't have a photo? :( "[] often had to scramble with each other to take pictures of one of the rarest creatures on Earth."
- Wingman4l7 14y agoHere you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_in_profile.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_in_profile... And another: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_-Pinta_giant_tortoise_-Santa_Cruz.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_-Pinta_gia...
- Indyan 14y ago- "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?
- kayhi 14y agoI took it to mean there are 20k left, but are of different species.
- pan69 14y agoPoor George. It's a terrible thing that us humans have steeped this low. This is a QI segment where they discuss the near extinction of tortoises: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3sZgh5xeM#t=8m42s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3sZgh5xeM#t=8m42s