Reptiles Magazine Fern was found on Fernandina Volcano during an expedition to locate the species. May 28, 2021 Fern is the last known tortoise of her species. A giant tortoise that was found in 2019 and thought to be an extinct species, is actually the species and is not extinct. Fern, the Fernandina giant tortoise (her founding is chronicled in the May/June 2019 issue of REPTILES magazine) that was found in 2019, was the first sighting of the species in more than 100 years. At the time of her discovery, it was thought that her species was extinct, but genetic testing of a blood sample sent to Yale University and tested against a male that was found in 1906 confirmed she is the last known tortoise of her species. She is related to the