Reply With QuoteGods speed George
Tortoise, last of its kind, dies
Monday, June 25th
news.ninemsn.com.au
Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of its kind, has died at Galapagos National Park
Staff at the park said they did not know what killed the ancient tortoise, thought to be 100 years old. "This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after the tortoises found Lonesome George, his body was motionless," the head of the park, Edwin Naula, told Re0ters. "His life cycle came to an end."
The last member of the La Pinta Island Tortoise subspecies was found by humans in 1972 and became an environmental celebrity. Scientists tried to pair it up with other species of tortoises twice but the resulting eggs were infertile. The park is considering embalming his body and putting it on display.
Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/848...me-george-dies
Congratulations homo sapiens, you did it again..
Gods speed George
Hopefully they have enough fresh DNA to be able to clone it later once the technology permits.
So you have concluded that mankind as a whole was somehow responsible for the natural death of a 100+ year old tortoise?Originally Posted by D-Mitch
wow. just, wow.
RIP to Lonesome George.
We can all agree that, he may have had 99 problems.. but a bitch wasn't one
Last edited by Cstafford; 06-24-2012 at 08:56 PM.
The old guy was older than I will ever get probably. RIP.
Man may not have been responsible for the death of George, but man is probably responsible for the apparent extinction of this sub-species.
It not officially extinct until no existing members are found for some amount of time according to the official rules.
Or maybe this sub-species lived and died on it's own because it couldn't adequately reproduce or adapt.
Nah, you guys are right. It's all our fault. Everyone who agrees with this line of thinking please kill yourself immediately for the good of the planet. You insensitive, murderous heathens.
Jesus, no one was out there with .308's whacking tortoises.
Simmah Don Nah!
His life cycle came to an end? Is the friggin park run by Vulcans?
Not recently at any rate. A 60 km2 habitat doesn't bode well for long term species survival.
Hell, I would've. BLAM!!! soup's on folks. Num num.
But seriously, it was man made global warming /cooling that done him in.... I think they can still make soup out of him though.
Here Hippies, cry for George...
Carry on Lonesome George, carry on!
May you be lonesome no more!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%...ecies_geneticsThe Pinta Island subspecies (abingdoni, now extinct) has been found to be most closely related to the subspecies on the islands of San Cristóbal (chathamensis) and Española (hoodensis) which lie over 300 kilometers (190 mi) away,[30] rather than that on the neighbouring island of Isabela as previously assumed. This relationship is attributable to dispersal by the strong local current from San Cristóbal towards Pinta.[60] This discovery informed further attempts to preserve the abingdoni lineage and the search for an appropriate mate for Lonesome George, who had been penned with females from Isabela.[61] Hope was bolstered by the discovery of an abingdoni hybrid male in the Volcán Wolf population on northern Isabela, raising the possibility that there are more undiscovered living Pinta descendants.[62]
Pretty interesting. RIP, George.
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