Réunion giant tortoise

Réunion giant tortoise
1792 sketch of a living specimen
Conservation status
Extinct (Around 1800) (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Cylindraspis
Species:	C. indica
Binomial name
Cylindraspis indica Schneider, 1783
Synonyms
Testudo indica Schneider, 1783 Chersine retusa Merrem, 1820 Testudo retusa Gray, 1831 Chelonura indica Rafinesque, 1832 Testudo perraultii Duméril & Bibron, 1835 Geochelone (Cylindraspis) perraultii Fitzinger, 1835 Cylindrapis indica Agassiz, 1857 Megalochelys indica Agassiz, 1857 Chersina grayi Strauch, 1865 Geochelone graii Pritchard, 1967 Geochelone indica Pritchard, 1967 Geochelone grayi Auffenberg, 1974 Testudo indica perraultii Auffenberg, 1974 Cylindraspis borbonica Bour, 1978 Cylindraspis graii Bour, 1978 Cylindraspis indica Bour, 1978 Cylindraspis bourbonica Gerlach, 2001 (ex errore)

The Reunion giant tortoise (Cylindraspis indica) is an extinct species of tortoise in the Testudinidae family. It was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

This tortoise was numerous in the 17th and early 18th centuries. They were killed in vast numbers by European sailors, and finally became extinct in the 1840s.

Description

The Réunion giant tortoise was 50 to 110 cm long. It was the largest of the Cylindraspis giant tortoise species of the Mascarenes. It was roughly the same size as modern Aldabra and Galapagos tortoises, though it was a longer and more elongated animal.

It had long legs and a long neck which supported a large head with powerful, strongly-serrated jaws. The species was sexually dimorphic, in that males were noticeably larger than females.

It was also a highly variable species. A problem arises when identifying this species because it appears there were domed variants as well as saddle-backed variants.

Distribution

This species was endemic to Réunion. On this island it was naturally extremely numerous, and its vast herds provided an important role in the health and rejuvenation of the indigenous forests.

Extinction

File:Cylindraspis indica.jpg

1737 illustration of the severed head and skull of a specimen

These giant tortoises were very slow, curious, and had no fear of man. They were therefore easy prey for the first inhabitants of the island, and were slaughtered in vast numbers - to be burnt for oil, as food for people, and also as food for pigs. Large numbers were also stacked into the holds of passing ships, as food supplies for sea trips.

In addition, invasive introduced species, such as pigs and rats, destroyed the eggs and hatchlings of the tortoises.

Coastal populations were completely decimated by the 18th century. It was presumed extinct in much of the island since 1800 with the last specimen observed in upper Cilaos. The last few animals survived in the highlands until the 1840s.

References

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Cylindraspis indica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 July 2007.