A Giant Tortoise Thought Extinct For Over 100 Years Has Been Found in Galapagos YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU, LIVE SCIENCE 1 JUNE 2021 A giant tortoise in the Galápagos Islands that was thought to have gone extinct over a century ago just came out of hiding. Researchers discovered the female tortoise on the Galápagos' Fernandina Island during a joint expedition carried out by the Galápagos National Park Directorate and the Galápagos Conservancy in 2019, according to a statement.
They nicknamed her "Fernanda". At the time, the team "was confident" that the lone tortoise was the "lost" Fernandina Giant Tortoise ( Chelonoidis phantasticus), a species native to the island that was thought extinct for 112 years due to eruptions of the Fernandina Volcano, according to the statement. But to confirm, they sent blood samples to geneticists at Yale University.