Get to know Fernanda, the giant turtle that has brought a whole way back to life

as Fernanda, the giant turtle, in 2019 quite slowly moved to a vegetation area on a remote Galapagos island, she not only shocked the rangers, but also accidentally revived her entire kind.

The last known copy of the "Fantastic Giant Turtle" (Chelonoidis Phantasticus) Before its creation, a single male was shot and skinned in 1906 by the US collector Rollo Beck and was exhibited in a Californian museum.

Now gene tests have shown that the 50-year-old female is actually related to the unfortunate museum copy, and researchers want to find out whether other giant turtles are hiding on Fernandina Island-or whether it is the loneliest turtle in the world.

recent expeditions have found signs of at least two to three other creatures on the Pacific, with experts hope that a male will soon be discovered so that a breeding program can be set up.

dr. Evelyn Jensen, lecturer for molecular ecology at Newcastle University and the main author of the study, said: “Only two turtles were found on Fernandina Island, and here we have shown that they are actually members of the same kind and that they differ from them.

"It is a really exciting discovery that the species is actually not extinct, but lives on."

Fernandina Island is an active volcano that stands solely on the western periphery of the Galapagos archipelago. It is believed that it is the largest untouched island on earth.

When Fernanda was discovered, many ecologists doubted that it was actually a local C. Phantasticus turtle, since it lacked the striking saddle armor of the male species.

turtles cannot swim from one island, but they float, and experts thought Fernanda could have been worn by another Galapagos island during a hurricane or violent storm.

To determine Fernanda's identity, the researchers seized their complete genome and compared it with the museum copy from 1906 and 13 other Galapagos turtle species.

"How many people was my initiating suspicion that this was not a native turtle of Fernandina Island," said Stephen Gaighhran from Princeton University.

"To be honest, we saw to my surprise that Fernanda the turtle was very similar that they found on this island more than 100 years ago, and both were very different from all turtles on the other islands."

Fernanda is now in captivity in the turtle center of the Galapagos national park and is in a similar position as Lonesome George, the last surviving individual of the giant turtle of the island of Pinta.

lonesome George lived his last decades of life, but never bred himself, and when he died of old age in 2012, the species died out.

dr. Jensen added: "What comes next for the species depends on whether other living individuals can be found. If there are more Fernandina turtles, a breeding program could begin to strengthen the population. We hope that Fernanda will not be the 'ending' of its species."

The study was published in the journal Communications Biology.