Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi

Arnold's giant tortoise
Possible A. g. arnoldi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Aldabrachelys
Species:
A. gigantea
Subspecies:
A. g. arnoldi
Trinomial name
Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi
(Bour, 1982)
Synonyms[1]
  • Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi BOUR, 1982
  • Testudo elephantina DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1835 (ex errore) — DUMÉRIL 1854: 197
  • Testudo vosmaeri DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1854: 221 (?)
  • Testudo indica SCHNEIDER, 1783 (ex errore) — GRAY 1855: 6
  • Testudo vosmaeri FITZINGER, 1826 (ex errore) — GRAY 1855: 6
  • Testudo daudinii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1835 (ex errore) — GÜNTHER 1877: 33
  • Dipsochelys arnoldi BOUR, 1982
  • Dipsochelys arnoldi LÜCKER, 2000
  • Dipsochelys arnoldi BONIN (et al) 2006: 223 (uncertain species)
  • Dipsochelys dussumieri arnoldi TTWG, 2010
  • Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi TTWG, 2012

Arnold's giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea arnoldi), also known as the Seychelles saddle-backed giant tortoise, is a tortoise subspecies in the genus Aldabrachelys.

It inhabited the large central granitic Seychelles islands, but was hunted in vast numbers by European sailors. By around 1840 it was presumed to be extinct, along with the Seychelles giant tortoise, a subspecies which shared the same islands.

It was recently rediscovered. Currently, less than a hundred individuals exist. Several had been reestablished in the wild on forested islands such as Silhouette, but were evicted in 2011 by the Seychelles Islands Development Company (IDC).[2]

  1. ^ Aldabrachelys gigantea at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 5 June 2015.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Release was invoked but never defined (see the help page).