Today, we went to the Darwin Research Center after we took a speedboat back to Santa Cruz. There, we were able to see lonesome george and learn about the efforts to breed him with similar tortoises in order to try to bring back his species. After this, we had some free time before lunch. During this time, the majority of the students went shopping around town. After lunch, we all shopped a little bit before returning to our hotel. At the hotel, we were tasked to rest and get ready for our flight the next day. After dinner later that night, we had a presentation about invasive species by Sebastian Torres. I thought that it was very interesting to hear about the different percentages of species that are invasive. For example, I thought that it was really interesting to see that 4% of pathogens are invasive in the islands.
Expansion of knowledge
Lonesome George
The article, “The genetic legacy of Lonesome George survives: Giant tortoises with Pinta Island ancestry identified in Galápagos,” discusses local tortoise species that resemble Lonesome George’s genetics. After doing some genetic mapping in different parts of Ecuador, it was found that there were 17 hybrids that had non-negligible levels of C. abingdoni ancestry. These 17 hybrids were identified to be nine females, three males, and five juveniles in which a portion were related by being either siblings or half siblings. There has been many efforts to resurrect Lonesome George’s population, but the findings in this study show a population of interest. Those 17 individuals can be worked with in order to artificially breed for more and more similar genetics to Lonesome George.
The presentation on January 6th talked about different invasive species in Ecuador and how they are impacting the environment. There is a lot of information about a variety of invasive species in the Galapagos Islands and the mainland of Ecuador. I did my term paper for this class on an invasive species - the feral dog.
The presentation on January 6th talked about different invasive species in Ecuador and how they are impacting the environment. There is a lot of information about a variety of invasive species in the Galapagos Islands and the mainland of Ecuador. I did my term paper for this class on an invasive species - the feral dog.
Works Cited
Edwards, D. L., Benavides, E., Garrick, R. C., Gibbs, J. P., Russello, M. A., Dion, K. B., … Caccone, A. (2013). The genetic legacy of Lonesome George survives: Giant tortoises with Pinta Island ancestry identified in Galápagos. Biological Conservation, 157, 225–228. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.10.014