A giant tortoise found on the Galapagos Islands is from a species last seen in 1906, scientists have confirmed. The female Chelonoidis phantasticus, also known as a Fernandina, was discovered back in 2019 during an expedition to Fernandina Island. But in order to come to the conclusion that it was indeed the ancient species, scientists took samples from the female to compare to the remains of a male Chelonoidis phantasticus found in the 1900s..
The Fernandina Giant Tortoise is one of 14 giant tortoise species found in the Galapagos Islands, but only ten of them are known to have survived human settlement and.