Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi

Subspecies of turtle

Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi

At Santa Cruz, Galápagos, in 2024.

Conservation status

Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]

CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]

Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Reptilia
Order:  | Testudines
Suborder:  | Cryptodira
Superfamily:  | Testudinoidea
Family:  | Testudinidae
Genus:  | Chelonoidis
Species:  |

C. niger

Subspecies:  |

C. n. donfaustoi

Trinomial name
Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi

Poulakakis, Edwards & Caccone, 2015[3]

range of C. donfaustoi on Santa Cruz Island (inset: Galápagos Islands)

Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi, known as the eastern Santa Cruz tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise living on Santa Cruz Island, within the Galápagos. Until 2015, C. n. donfaustoi was considered conspecific with the western Santa Cruz tortoise, C. n. porteri.[4]

## Tortoise populations on Santa Cruz Island

[edit]

Earlier mitochondrial DNA studies of tortoises on Santa Cruz showed up to three genetically distinct lineages found in nonoverlapping population distributions around the regions of Cerro Monturra in the northwest, Cerro Fatal in the east, and La Reserva (or La Caseta) in the southwest.[5] Although traditionally classified together, the lineages were all shown to be more closely related to tortoises on other islands than to each other, and thus are thought to be the result of three separate colonizations of the island.[6] Cerro Monturra tortoises are most closely related to C. n. duncanensis tortoises from Pinzón,[7] Cerro Fatal to C. n. chathamensis from San Cristóbal,[7][8] while Reserva tortoises are closer to the four southern races of Isabela.[7] Tortoises are aided in oceanic dispersal by their ability to float with their heads up, and to survive up to six months without food or water.[9]

## Classification

[edit]

Five views of a skull

In 2015, Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi was reclassified as a new subspecies on the basis of genetic and morphological data.[3] C. n. donfaustoi is the sister lineage to C. n. chathamensis on San Cristóbal, and is part of a clade that also includes C. n. hoodensis of Española and C. n. abingdoni of Pinta.[3] Genetically, C. n. donfaustoi differs from other tortoises by allele frequency at 12 microsatellite loci, which allowed assignment to the genetically distinct cluster.[3] C. n. donfaustoi also shares a set of nucleotides distinct from that of C. porteri on the same Santa Cruz Island and from C. n. chathamensis.[3]

The reclassification reduced the range of C. porteri to the western and southwestern parts of Santa Cruz Island.[3] At the same time it confined C. n. donfaustoi to the eastern part of Santa Cruz Island, with a population size estimated at 250 individuals.[3] C. porteri was shown to be part of a clade that includes the Floreana and southern Isabela tortoises, as well as specimens reputedly representing Rábida and Fernandina.[3][10]

The subspecies received the scientific epithet donfaustoi in honor of Fausto Llerena Sánchez, who devoted 43 years to giant tortoise conservation as a park ranger within the Galapagos National Park Directorate. “Don Fausto” was the primary caretaker of endangered tortoises in captivity.[3]

C. n. donfaustoi is the 15th known tortoise subspecies to be discovered on the islands, with four of those subspecies being extinct.[11] The classification of a new tortoise subspecies was the first in over a century.[12]

## Appearance

[edit]

While similar to other Galápagos tortoises, C. n. donfaustoi can be distinguished from them by means of shell size and shape.[3] Some Galápagos tortoises are larger than C. n. donfaustoi, with higher anterior opening of the shell.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Cayot, L.J.; Gibbs, J.P.; Tapia, W.; Caccone, A. (2017). "Chelonoidis donfaustoi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T90377132A90377135. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T90377132A90377135.en. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Poulakakis, Nikos; Edwards, Danielle L.; Chiari, Ylenia; Garrick, Ryan C.; Russello, Michael A.; Benavides, Edgar; Watkins-Colwell, Gregory J.; Glaberman, Scott; Tapia, Washington; Gibbs, James P.; Cayot, Linda J.; Caccone, Adalgisa (21 October 2015). "Description of a new Galapagos giant tortoise species (Chelonoidis; Testudines: Testudinidae) from Cerro Fatal on Santa Cruz island". PLOS One. 10 (10): e0138779. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1038779P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138779. PMC 4619298. PMID 26488886.
4. ^ Rachel Feltman (October 22, 2015). "A new species of giant tortoise was just discovered in the Galapagos". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
5. ^ Russello, Michael A.; Glaberman, Scott; Gibbs, James P.; Marquez, Cruz; Powell, Jeffrey R.; Caccone, Adalgisa (2005). "A cryptic taxon of Galapagos tortoise in conservation peril". Biology Letters. 1 (3): 287–290\. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0317. PMC 1617146. PMID 17148189.287-290&rft.date=2005&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1617146#id-name=PMC&rft_id=info:pmid/17148189&rft_id=info:doi/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0317&rft.au=Russello,+Michael+A.&rft.au=Glaberman,+Scott&rft.au=Gibbs,+James+P.&rft.au=Marquez,+Cruz&rft.au=Powell,+Jeffrey+R.&rft.au=Caccone,+Adalgisa&rft_id=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1617146&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chelonoidis+niger+donfaustoi" class="Z3988">
6. ^ Chiari, Ylenia; Hyseni, Chaz; Fritts, Tom H.; Glaberman, Scott; Marquez, Cruz; Gibbs, James P.; Claude, Julien; Caccone, Adalgisa (2009). "Morphometrics Parallel Genetics in a Newly Discovered and Endangered Taxon of Galápagos Tortoise". PLOS ONE. 4 (7): e6272. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.6272C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006272. PMC 2707613. PMID 19609441.
7. ^ a b c Caccone, A.; Gentile, G.; Gibbs, J. P.; Fritts, T. H.; Snell, H. L.; Betts, J.; Powell, J. R. (October 2002). "Phylogeography and History of Giant Galapagos Tortoises". Evolution. 56 (10): 2052–2066\. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2002.tb00131.x. JSTOR 3094648. PMID 12449492. S2CID 9149151.2052-2066&rft.date=2002-10&rft_id=info:pmid/12449492&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:9149151#id-name=S2CID&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3094648#id-name=JSTOR&rft_id=info:doi/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2002.tb00131.x&rft.aulast=Caccone&rft.aufirst=A.&rft.au=Gentile,+G.&rft.au=Gibbs,+J.+P.&rft.au=Fritts,+T.+H.&rft.au=Snell,+H.+L.&rft.au=Betts,+J.&rft.au=Powell,+J.+R.&rft_id=https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.0014-3820.2002.tb00131.x&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chelonoidis+niger+donfaustoi" class="Z3988">
8. ^ Ciofi, Claudio; Milinkovitch, Michel C.; Gibbs, James P.; Caccone, Adalgisa; Powell, Jeffrey R. (2002). "Microsatellite analysis of genetic divergence among populations of giant Galápagos tortoises". Molecular Ecology. 11 (11): 2265–2283\. Bibcode:2002MolEc..11.2265C. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294X.2002.01617.x. PMID 12406238. S2CID 30172900.2265-2283&rft.date=2002&rft_id=info:doi/10.1046/j.1365-294X.2002.01617.x&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:30172900#id-name=S2CID&rft_id=info:pmid/12406238&rft_id=info:bibcode/2002MolEc..11.2265C&rft.au=Ciofi,+Claudio&rft.au=Milinkovitch,+Michel+C.&rft.au=Gibbs,+James+P.&rft.au=Caccone,+Adalgisa&rft.au=Powell,+Jeffrey+R.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chelonoidis+niger+donfaustoi" class="Z3988">
9. ^ Le, M.; Raxworthy, C. J.; McCord, W. P.; Mertz, L. (2006-05-05). "A molecular phylogeny of tortoises (Testudines: Testudinidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40 (2): 517–531\. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.003. PMID 16678445. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2012-04-12.517-531&rft.date=2006-05-05&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.003&rft_id=info:pmid/16678445&rft.aulast=Le&rft.aufirst=M.&rft.au=Raxworthy,+C.+J.&rft.au=McCord,+W.+P.&rft.au=Mertz,+L.&rft_id=http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Articles/Le_etal_2006.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chelonoidis+niger+donfaustoi" class="Z3988">
10. ^ Marris, E. (2015-10-21). "Genetics probe identifies new Galapagos tortoise species". Nature. Nature Publishing Group. doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18611. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
11. ^ "New species of giant tortoise discovered in Galapagos". BBC News. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
12. ^ Feltman, Rachel (23 October 2015). "New species of giant tortoise discovered in Galapagos". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media Network. Retrieved 26 October 2015.

* v
* t
* e

Tortoise family

* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Chordata
* Class: Reptilia
* Subclass: Anapsida
* Order: Testudines
* Suborder: Cryptodira
* Superfamily: Testudinoidea
* Family: Testudinidae

Genera|

Species of the tortoise family

Agrionemys|

* Russian tortoise

Aldabrachelys|

* Aldabra giant tortoise (subspecies:
* A. g. arnoldi
* †A. g. daudinii
* A. g. hololissa)
* †Aldabrachelys abrupta
* †Aldabrachelys grandidieri

Astrochelys|

* Angonoka tortoise
* Radiated tortoise
* †Astrochelys rogerbouri

Centrochelys|

* African spurred tortoise
* †Centrochelys atlantica
* †Centrochelys burchardi
* †Centrochelys vulcanica

Chelonoidis|

* Chaco tortoise
* Red-footed tortoise
* Yellow-footed tortoise
* †Chelonoidis alburyorum
* †Chelonoidis cubensis
* †Chelonoidis lutzae
* †Chelonoidis monensis
* †Chelonoidis sellovii
* †Chelonoidis sombrerensis

Galápagos tortoise

Chelonoidis complex

* Cerro Azul giant tortoise
* Chatham Island giant tortoise
* Eastern Santa Cruz tortoise
* Fernandina Island tortoise
* †Floreana Island tortoise
* Hood Island giant tortoise (Diego)
* Santa Fe Island tortoise
* †Pinta Island tortoise †(Lonesome George)
* Santiago Island giant tortoise
* Pinzón Island giant tortoise
* Sierra Negra giant tortoise
* Volcán Alcedo giant tortoise
* Volcán Darwin giant tortoise
* Volcán Wolf giant tortoise
* Western Santa Cruz tortoise

†Cheirogaster|

* †Cheirogaster bacharidisi
* †Cheirogaster gymnesica
* †Cheirogaster schafferi

Chersina|

* Angulate tortoise

Chersobius|

* Nama padloper
* Karoo padloper
* Speckled padloper

†Cylindraspis|

* †Domed Mauritius giant tortoise
* †Domed Rodrigues giant tortoise
* †Réunion giant tortoise
* †Saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise
* †Saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise

Geochelone|

* Burmese star tortoise
* Indian star tortoise

Gopherus|

* Bolson tortoise
* Desert tortoise
* Goode's thornscrub tortoise
* Gopher tortoise
* Sonoran Desert tortoise
* Texas tortoise

†Hadrianus|

* †Hadrianus corsoni
* †Hadrianus majusculus
* †Hadrianus octonaria
* †Hadrianus robustus
* †Hadrianus schucherti
* †Hadrianus utahensis
* †Hadrianus vialovi

†Hesperotestudo|

* †Hesperotestudo percrassa

Homopus|

* Common padloper
* Greater padloper

Indotestudo|

* Elongated tortoise
* Forsten's tortoise
* Travancore tortoise

Kinixys|

* Bell's hinge-back tortoise
* Forest hinge-back tortoise
* Home's hinge-back tortoise
* Lobatse hinge-back tortoise
* Natal hinge-back tortoise
* Speke's hinge-back tortoise

Malacochersus|

* Pancake tortoise

Manouria|

* Asian forest tortoise
* Impressed tortoise

†Megalochelys|

* †Megalochelys atlas
* †Megalochelys cautleyi
* †Megalochelys margae
* †Megalochelys sondaari

Psammobates|

* Geometric tortoise
* Serrated tortoise
* Tent tortoise

Pyxis|

* Flat-backed spider tortoise
* Spider tortoise

Stigmochelys|

* Leopard tortoise

†Stylemys|

* †Stylemys botti
* †Stylemys calaverensis
* †Stylemys canetotiana
* †Stylemys capax
* †Stylemys conspecta
* †Stylemys copei
* †Stylemys emiliae
* †Stylemys frizaciana
* †Stylemys karakolensis
* †Stylemys nebrascensis
* †Stylemys neglectus
* †Stylemys oregonensis
* †Stylemys pygmea
* †Stylemys uintensis
* †Stylemys undabuna

Testudo|

* Hermann's tortoise
* Kleinmann's tortoise
* Marginated tortoise
* Spur-thighed tortoise
* †Testudo brevitesta

Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on turtles of the world 2017 update: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status. Key: †=extinct.

* v
* t
* e

Testudines

* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Chordata
* Class: Reptilia
* Clade: Diapsida
* Order: Testudines

Suborder|

| Superfamily|

| Family|

Genus

Cryptodira|

| Chelonioidea
(Sea turtles)|

| Cheloniidae|

* †Allopleuron
* Caretta
* †Carolinochelys
* Chelonia
* †Eochelone
* Eretmochelys
* †Gigantatypus
* †Glarichelys
* †Itilochelys
* Lepidochelys
* †Mexichelys
* †Miocaretta
* Natator
* †Pacifichelys
* †Syllomus
* †Tasbacka

|

Dermochelyidae|

* †Arabemys
* †Corsochelys
* †Cosmochelys
* Dermochelys
* †Eosphargis
* †Mesodermochelys
* †Psephophorus

* †Euclastes
* †Peritresius
* †Procolpochelys
* †Protosphargis
* †Puppigerus

Kinosternoidea|

| Dermatemydidae|

* Dermatemys

|

Kinosternidae|

* Claudius
* †Hoplochelys
* Kinosternon
* Staurotypus
* Sternotherus

Testudinoidea|

| Emydidae|

* †Acherontemys
* Chrysemys
* Clemmys
* Deirochelys
* Emys
* Actinemys
* Emydoidea
* Glyptemys
* Graptemys
* Malaclemys
* Pseudemys
* Terrapene
* Trachemys
* †Wilburemys

|

Geoemydidae|

* Batagur
* †Banhxeochelys
* Cuora
* Cyclemys
* Geoclemys
* Geoemyda
* Hardella
* Heosemys
* Leucocephalon
* Malayemys
* Mauremys
* Melanochelys
* Morenia
* Notochelys
* Orlitia
* Pangshura
* Rhinoclemmys
* Sacalia
* Siebenrockiella
* Vijayachelys

Platysternidae|

* Platysternon

Testudinidae|

* Aldabrachelys
* Astrochelys
* Centrochelys
* Chelonoidis
* Chersina
* Cylindraspis
* †Cymatholcus
* †Floridemys
* Geochelone
* Gopherus
* †Hadrianus
* †Hesperotestudo
* Homopus
* Indotestudo
* Kinixys
* Malacochersus
* Manouria
* †Megalochelys
* †Oligopherus
* Psammobates
* Pyxis
* †Solitudo
* Stigmochelys
* †Stylemys
* Testudo

Trionychia|

| Carettochelyidae|

* †Allaeochelys
* †Anosteira
* Carettochelys

|

Trionychidae|

* Amyda
* Apalone
* †Axestemys
* Chitra
* Cyclanorbis
* Cycloderma
* †Drazinderetes
* Dogania
* †Gilmoremys
* †Hutchemys
* †Khunnuchelys
* Lissemys
* Nilssonia
* Palea
* †Palaeoamyda
* Pelochelys
* Pelodiscus
* Rafetus
* Trionyx

* †Basilochelys
* †Sinaspideretes

| Chelydridae|

* Chelydra
* †Chelydrops
* †Chelydropsis
* †Emarginachelys
* †Macrocephalochelys
* Macrochelys
* †Planiplastron
* †Protochelydra

|

†Nanhsiungchelyidae|

* †Anomalochelys
* †Basilemys
* †Jiangxichelys

†Protostegidae|

* †Alienochelys
* †Archelon
* †Atlantochelys
* †Bouliachelys
* †Calcarichelys
* †Cratochelone
* †Desmatochelys
* †Iserosaurus
* †Notochelone
* †Ocepechelon
* †Pneumatoarthrus
* †Protostega
* †Rhinochelys
* †Santanachelys
* †Terlinguachelys

* †Adocus
* †Argillochelys
* †Bashuchelys
* †Ctenochelys
* †Prionochelys
* †Toxochelys

Pleurodira|

|  |

| †Araripemydidae|

* †Araripemys

|

†Bothremydidae|

* †Araiochelys
* †Arenila
* †Azabbaremys
* †Bothremys
* †Cearachelys
* †Chedighaii
* †Chupacabrachelys
* †Eotaphrosphys
* †Foxemys
* †Galianemys
* †Ilatardia
* †Inaechelys
* †Itapecuruemys
* †Jainemys
* †Kinkonychelys
* †Kurmademys
* †Labrostochelys
* †Nigeremys
* †Phosphatochelys
* †Polysternon
* †Puentemys
* †Rosasia
* †Rhothonemys
* †Sankuchemys
* †Taphrosphys
* †Ummulisani
* †Zolhafah

Chelidae|

* Acanthochelys
* Chelodina
* Chelus
* Elseya
* Elusor
* Emydura
* Hydromedusa
* †Lomalatachelys
* Mesoclemmys
* Myuchelys
* Phrynops
* Platemys
* †Prochelidella
* Pseudemydura
* Rheodytes
* Rhinemys
* †Yaminuechelys

Pelomedusidae|

* Pelomedusa
* Pelusios

Podocnemididae|

* †Albertwoodemys
* †Bauruemys
* †Brontochelys
* †Caninemys
* †Carbonemys
* †Cerrejonemys
* †Cordichelys
* Erymnochelys
* †Lapparentemys
* †Latentemys
* Peltocephalus
* Podocnemis
* †Stupendemys

†Sahonachelyidae|

* †Sahonachelys
* †Sokatra

|  |

|  |

* †Caribemys
* †Caririemys
* †Tacuarembemys

|

* Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on Turtles of the World 2017 Update: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. † = extinct.

* See also List of Testudines families

Taxon identifiers

Chelonoidis donfaustoi|

* Wikidata: Q21179602
* CoL: 5Y2YX
* GBIF: 8479820
* iNaturalist: 499951
* ITIS: 997299
* IUCN: 90377132
* NCBI: 1743023
* Plazi: 333D161C-2BA0-43D3-B84E-B0FBC859787D
* RD: donfaustoi
* ZooBank: 333D161C-2BA0-43D3-B84E-B0FBC859787D

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