Last Tortoise of His Kind Needs a Date

DNA shows that species thought wiped out in 1840s is on different island

(NEWSER) - Scientists have located survivors of a giant Galapagos tortoise species thought to have gone extinct back in the 1840s. Researchers testing the DNA of 1,600 tortoises on Isabela Island in the Galapagos discovered that at least 84 were offspring of a species that originally lived on nearby Floreana Island, reports USA Today . Poachers were thought to have wiped them out. More»

'He had a kind of charisma'

(NEWSER) - All of France is mourning today after 146-year-old giant tortoise lothario Kiki finally kicked the bucket. He succumbed last week to an infection at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. "We are rather upset to have lost Kiki. He had been here for such a long time that we kind of thought of him as eternal," said a spokesman. "He had a kind of charisma." Kiki's "demonstrative lovemaking" made him a particular favorite of the French public. More»

(NEWSER) - Scientists fear that winged invaders could wipe out native species on the islands where Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution, the Times of London reports. Mosquitoes have been hitching rides to the Galapagos on incoming aircraft, and now Galapagos species—including iguanas, tortoises, and Darwin's finches—are in serious danger from mosquito-borne diseases they have no resistance to, a new study finds. More»

UN says too many people on islands is destroying animal habitats

(NEWSER) - Ecuador is forcing those without permission to live in the Galapagos to leave, over fears that a growing human population threatens the species that make the islands unique. Even Ecuadorean citizens need special visas to visit the Galapagos, but thousands of mainland migrants have been staying illegally, drawn by high wages and good schools, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»