page_title: Giant tortoise
section_title: Galapagos giant tortoises
hierarchical_section_title: Giant tortoise / Galapagos giant tortoises
caption_attribution_description: December 10, 2006: I'm pretty sure this is Lonesome George, so named because he is the last remaining tortoise of his species
context_page_description: Giant tortoises are any of various large land tortoises formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the Galápagos Islands.
context_section_description: The closest living relative of the Galapagos giant tortoise is the small Chaco tortoise from South America, although it is not a direct ancestor. Scientists believe the first tortoises arrived to Galapagos 2–3 million years ago by drifting 600 miles from the South American coast on vegetation rafts or on their own. They were already large animals before arriving in Galapagos. Colonizing the easternmost islands of Española and San Cristóbal first, they then dispersed throughout the archipelago, eventually establishing about 16 separate populations on 10 of the largest Galapagos Islands. Currently there are only 10 species of Galapagos giant tortoises left of the original 16 species. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Galápagos were frequented by buccaneers preying on Spanish treasure ships. Filling a ship's hold with tortoises was an easy way to stock up on food, a tradition that was continued by whalers in the centuries that followed: "whaling skippers were almost lyrical in their praise of tortoise meat, terming it far more delicious than chicken, pork or beef". They said the meat of the giant tortoise was 'succulent meat and the oil from their bodies as pure as butter, but best of all, the giants could hibernate in a ship's damp for a year or more." The tortoises also conveniently held water in their necks that could be used as drinking water.
  These buccaneers took giant tortoises not only because of their meat and oil but because of their incredible adaption that allows these animals to survive one year without food or water. Once buccaneers, whalers and fur sealers discovered that they could have fresh meat for their long voyages by storing live giant tortoises in the holds of their ships, massive exploitation of the species began. Tortoises were also exploited for their oil, which was used to light the lamps of Quito. Two centuries of exploitation resulted in the loss of between 100,000 and 200,000 tortoises. Three species have been extinct for some time, and a fourth species lost its last member, Lonesome George, in June 2012. In February 2019, a tortoise species once thought to have been extinct since 1906, the Fernandina giant tortoise, was discovered on its namesake island in the Galapagos.  It is estimated that 20,000–25,000 wild tortoises live on the islands today.
caption: Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise (C. abingdonii)
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