Tuesday, 26 June 2012

The Last Post for George

News that the last Pinta island sub-species of Giant Galapagos tortoise, dubbed 'Lonesome George', has passed away at the age of 100 or more or less -people are not sure how old he was (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/25/lonesome-george?INTCMP=SRCH). George, as the last of his kind, was regarded as the rarest of animals but, in essence, the fate of his sub-species was determined long before George's going into his shell for the last time. The miniscule amount of genetic diversity evident, even if he had elected to breed, would have condemned his line and breeding would have involved hybridisation with a related sub-species.
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