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Bringing Giant Tortoises Back From Extinction

Posted by timothy on from the reviving-the-turtle-hegemony dept.

fizzysister writes "The BBC reports that scientists at Yale are intending to resurrect an extinct species of Galapagos tortoise, the Geochelone elephantopus. Unfortunately, not in the style of Jurassic Park, so no tortoise-based theme parks just yet. They will, however, be using genetic profiling of living tortoises that carry some of the elephantopus genes, to select the most appropriate of these to mate and thus eventually (after a century or more) create a generation of 'pure' Geochelone elephantopus individuals."

6 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. This could redefine the term species by davidwr · · Score: 2, Informative

    If this interbreeding of existing species is successful, it begs the question:

    Are the existing species really separate species, or are the merely subspecies or even just breeds of the same species?

    The answer depends on the definition of species.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:This could redefine the term species by pm_rat_poison · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, no. Species is a set of animals that interbreed and create fertile offspring. In terms of process, I don't see how that's any different to breeding different breeds of dogs the old fashioned way. In terms of purpose, instead of targeting a set of genotype that creates a desired phenotype, they're just targeting for a genotype that doesn't exist anymore.

    2. Re:This could redefine the term species by PJ1216 · · Score: 2, Informative

      You just gave justification for deviating from standards. That same principles can be applied to Microsoft and Internet Explorer YET I bet people will all complain. The purpose of language is to be clear and concise. If you start giving multiple meanings to phrases, you will eventually muddy the water, so to speak. Yes, one understood what he was saying, but where would you like to arbitrarily draw the line of what is allowable and what is not. Internet Explorer's deviation from web standards are used by a majority of people AND those deviations aren't magical... people know what they mean. So, its usage is widespread and everyone understands it. Whether or not its part of the original standard is irrelevant. The bastardization of the standard has lead to a new one on the internet and nothing is wrong with how IE uses it.

      To be clear, I find standards to be important. Yes, one can steer away from the standard and still make sense, but that doesn't make it acceptable. As if you allow that, what stops them from steering a tad away from there, so on and so forth?

      A million people can be wrong.

  2. hold it ... Geochelone elephantopus is NOT extinct by neonprimetime · · Score: 4, Informative

    gct says one species, Geochelone elephantopus, with 14 different races or sub-species, three of which are believed to be extinct.

    So just to clarify, several races are extinct and this discusses bringing them back to life. The species itself though is not extinct ... it's alive and well.

  3. Species definition and Galapagos restoration by wagr · · Score: 3, Informative

    The definition of species from your primary or secondary education about critters that can breed is a gross simplification. (I pity if you heard it in college also.) That is one basis for determining a species. Others are:

    Location, meaning these individuals could procreate with those, but they never travel far enough to do so (like across an ocean). Sometimes called "populations."

    Morphology, i.e. color, patterns, size.

    Habits, i.e. where they rest or what they eat.

    Mating preferences can be based on all of the above. An example: finches that rest in trees and eat small seeds from succulent bushes tend to prefer the same, even though they can mate with finches that rest in rocks and eat larger seeds from weeds. These groups may live intermingled, they just don't choose mates that way. New chicks learn patterns from their parents, act that way as they age, and hang out with (mate) those who are similar. This is akin to humans marrying only folks of the same social class. Studies on the finches in the Galapagos show that nearly any "species" CAN mate with the others, they just don't.

    The other large reason to define species is funding. More folks will donate to help the "Floreana tortoise" if it is called its own species, even though it is identical to the "Isabela tortoise" except for 1) the island they were/are on, and 2) a few genes. The rallying cry, "Restore the Floreana tortoise" is catchier than, "Move some tortoises and manage their breeding based on DNA."

    The article mentions how tortoises may have been moved from Floreana to Isabela, but they don't mention the real causes of the extinction in the first place. The same whaling ships left goats on the islands to breed and create a population they can harvest meat from next time they visit. The goat population exploded. These goats eat the same bushes the tortoises eat, depriving them of food. The ships also left rats which ate their eggs. Over the past 10 years, eradication campaigns have wiped out the goats from almost all of the islands, and have eliminated rats from some of them. Now that the main causes of the extinctions have been (are are being) removed, efforts to reclaim the populations are starting. This is just one.

    For more information, see http://www.galapagos.org/2008/ or look up "Lonesome George."

  4. +1 parent for informative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    +1 parent for informative