EVOLUTION AND THE SHELL OF GALÁPAGOS GIANT TORTOISES

In a paper recently published by the scientific journal Scientific Reports, an international team which included CIBIO-InBIO researcher Arie van der Meijden, discussed the evolution-ary hypotheses that explain the differences in shape of Galápagos giant tortoises.The team estimated the center of mass for domed and saddleback tortoises and created 3D images of their shells based on photographs of 89 individuals from five different species.

This infor-mation was then used in computer models to simulate tortoises that had fallen on their back. The results indicated that saddleback tortoises need more energy than domed ones to roll back onto their feet. According to Arie “based only on the present study we cannot con-clude whether it was the longer neck or the shell shape which evolved first. Yet, our study is important because it brings new insights to understand the evolution of shell shape in the Galapagos giant tortoises”.

To know more about this topic, please follow the links below:
“Studying giant tortoise flips without tipping the animals over is a delicate business” | Sci-ence News | November 30, 2017 (Information available in Portuguese)
“Forma da carapaça das tartarugas depende da capacidade de se porem de pé" | TVi24 | November 30, 2017 (Information available in Portuguese)
“Estudo 3D visa perceber evolução das carapaças das tartarugas nas Ilhas Galápagos” | Diário de Notícias | November 30, 2017 (Information available in Spanish)
“O que têm de tão especial as carapaças das tartarugas das Galápagos?” | Público | De-cember 4, 2017

To read the national press release for this study, please click here.

To access the original article, please click here.