Aldabrachelys gigantea

(video) A pair of Aldabra giant tortoises at Tobu Zoo in Saitama, Japan The Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world.Pritchard, Peter C.H. Encyclopedia of Turtles. Neptune, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., 1979. Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.Palkovacs, E., Gerlach, J. and Caccone, A. 2002. The evolutionary origin of Indian Ocean tortoises (Dipsochelys). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 24:216–227 Many of the Indian Ocean species were thought to be driven to extinction by over-exploitation by European sailors, and they were all seemingly extinct by 1840 with the exception of the Aldabran giant tortoise on the island atoll of Aldabra.Palkovacs, E., Marschner, M., Ciofi, C., Gerlach, J. and Caccone, A. 2003. Are the native giant tortoises from the Seychelles really extinct? A genetic perspective based on mtDNA and microsatellite data.Molecular Ecology (2003) 12:1403–1413 doi: 10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01834.x Although some remnant individuals of A. g. hololissa and A. g. arnoldi may remain in captivity, in recent times, these have all been reduced as subspecies of A. gigantea.

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