Sunday 19 May Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra)
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Galapagos giant tortoise description The enormous Galapagos
giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) was once so numerous that
Spanish explorers of the region named the Galapagos archipelago
after its extraordinary inhabitant; 'galapagos' means 'tortoise'
in Spanish (8). This giant reptile is the largest living
tortoise, with relatively heavy limbs, a long neck and a heavy
carapace that can reach lengths of up to 150 centimetres (2)
(8). The different subspecies of the Galapagos giant tortoise
illustrate the principal of ‘adaptive radiation’, where
populations isolated on islands or on parts of larger islands
within the Galapagos chain have adapted to different conditions,
and now have distinct appearances (9). The subspecies can be
generally separated into those with 'domed' shells, which occur
on the larger, wetter islands, and smaller