

Lonesome George, last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise, dies - adventureful
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/us-ecuador-tortoise-idUSBRE85N0PI20120624

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tomfakes
It's humbling to think of seeing an entire subspecies being wiped out by this
one simple event.

I saw Lonesome George in person just last December - although at a fair
distance (he wasn't particularly friendly to the tourists!)

On the same trip we saw a whole new hybrid species that had never been seen
before - as confirmed by the scientists at the same place that George lived.
The whole cycle of evolution is visible in a very small and isolated location.

~~~
batista
> _The whole cycle of evolution is visible in a very small and isolated
> location._

In Galapagos? Who would have thought!

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Indyan
\- "Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind." \- "Some 20,000
giant tortoises still live on the Galapagos." That confused me a bit. My
interpretation is that Lonesome George belonged to a species of giant
tortoises that is not extinct, but there are still several other species of
giant tortoises in the wild. Is that correct?

~~~
kayhi
I took it to mean there are 20k left, but are of different species.

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pan69
Poor George. It's a terrible thing that us humans have steeped this low.

This is a QI segment where they discuss the near extinction of tortoises:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3sZgh5xeM#t=8m42s>

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apricot13
Its a bit strange to have an article about the last of a kind animal doesn't
have a photo? :(

"[] often had to scramble with each other to take pictures of one of the
rarest creatures on Earth."

~~~
Wingman4l7
Here you go:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_in_profile...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_in_profile.png)

And another: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_-
Pinta_gia...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lonesome_George_-
Pinta_giant_tortoise_-Santa_Cruz.jpg)

