Base de Datos de las Especies de Galápagos

Categoría de taxón: Aceptado

Syn.: Geochelone becki (Rothschild, 1901), Testudo becki Rothschild, 1901, Chelonoidis nigra becki (Rothschild, 1901), Geochelone elephantopus becki Pritchard, 1967, Chelonoides becki Bour, 1980, Geochelone becki Fritts, 1983; Type specimen: Tring Museum, England. Le et al. (2006) demonstrate that the genus Geochelone is polyphyletic and that the Galapagos Giant Tortoises are better treated as the monophyletic genus Chelonoidis. According to Márquez et al. (2004) and Poulakakis et al. (2008) the Geochelone taxa (= Chelonoidis) from Galapagos are genetically distinct and therefore treated as species and not as subspecies of Geochelone (= Chelonoidis) nigra.

Origen: Endémica

Categoría en la Lista Roja de la UICN: Vulnerable

Distribución: Registrado en el volcán Wolf en la isla Isabela.

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• Fritts, T.H. (2001) A brief review of the taxonomic history of Galapagos Tortoise relevant to consideration of the most appropiate generic and specifc name for Giant Tortoises in Galapagos. U.S. Geological survey Report, 7 pp.
• Heller, E. (1903) Reptiles. In Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition 1898-1899. Proceedings of the Washington Academy Sciences 5: 39-98.
• IUCN (2010) IUCN Red list of threatened species. Version 2010.1. www.iucnredlist.org
• IUCN (2015) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015-4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 November 2015.
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• Pritchard, P.C.H. (1996) The Galapagos tortoises: Nomenclatural and survival status. Chelonian research monographs No. 1. Chelonian Research Foundation.
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