06 August 2008

The slow, uplifting tale of Lonesome George

Lonesome George, the giant Galapagos tortoise that the Guinness Book of World Records called the "rarest living creature," can now add a notch to the scalesia tree. The tortoise, thought to be the sole surviving member of its species, Geochelone nigra abingdoni, has been famous for obstinately ignoring conservationists' attempts to mate him with similar (though not identical) species -- and preserve his genetic information through his progeny.

But two weeks ago, TED has learned, the solitary Pinta Island tortoise mated with a female subspecies of Geochelone in his bachelor pad, the Charles Darwin Research Station. The female then produced three precious eggs.

Reuters reports that researchers will not know if the fertilization was successful until November. Said the official park statement, "Even if these three eggs are fertile and the born tortoises survive, it will take several (genetic) generations to think of having a Pinta purebred ... even centuries."

Look for the results of this charming saga right here on the TED Blog. Until then, cowabunga! -- Matthew Trost. Images courtesy serrin.blogter.hu and Snowmanradio

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