Centrochelys vulcanica

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Gran Canaria giant tortoise
Temporal range: Pliocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Centrochelys
Species:
†C. vulcanica
Binomial name
†Centrochelys vulcanica
(López-Jurado & Mateo, 1993)
Synonyms

Geochelone vulcanica López-Jurado & Mateo, 1993

The Gran Canaria giant tortoise

Testudinidae endemic to the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands.[3]

Characteristics

C. vulcanica is known from fossils on Gran Canaria dating to the Pliocene epoch (5.3-2.6 million years ago).[4] The other species is C. burchardi, from the island of Tenerife.[5][6]

C. vulcanica was described by López-Jurado & Mateo in 1993. It is believed that the ancestors of these two species of giant tortoises reached the Canary Islands from North Africa.[7] The majority of C. vulcanica fossils are of eggs and nests ranging in age from the Miocene until Pliocene. Bones and shells are known from the Miocene to the Upper Pleistocene. The maximum shell length is up to 61 centimeters, make it slightly smaller than C. burchardi, which had a shell length range of 65 to 94 cm.[8]

Fossilized tortoise eggs have been found in the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura; however, these eggs have not yet been properly described or named.[9] The Fuerteventura fossils have been linked to C. burchardi, but this identification is uncertain, and has been challenged.[10][11]

While often placed in the genus Centrochelys, which contains the living African spurred tortoise, the limited remains of the species make its placement in the genus uncertain, and thus the species is often referred to as "Centrochelys" vulcanica.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Geochelone vulcanica". Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  2. doi:10.3854/crm.5.000e.fossil.checklist.v1.2015
    .
  3. ^ "La Paleontología de vertebrados en Canarias" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0079-032X
    .
  5. ^ "Fauna subfósil de las Islas Canarias" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  6. ^ "La Paleontología de vertebrados en Canarias" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  7. ^ El legado paleontológico de nuestras islas
  8. ^ El legado paleontológico de nuestras islas
  9. ^ "Fauna subfósil de las Islas Canarias" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  10. ^ "New chelonian eggs from the Tertiary of Lanzarote of Fuerteventura" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  11. ^ The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Geochelone