Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Chelonoidis donfaustoi (Chelonoidis donfaustoi), recorded as Critically Endangered
Chelonoidis donfaustoi (Chelonoidis donfaustoi). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Critically Endangered

Chelonoidis donfaustoi

Chelonoidis donfaustoi

Chelonoidis donfaustoi is a tortoise in the family Testudinidae, recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to Ecuador.

Status
Critically Endangered
Scientific name
Chelonoidis donfaustoi
Recorded from
Ecuador
Taxonomy
Testudines · Testudinidae · Chelonoidis

Appearance

While similar to other Galápagos tortoises, C. N. Donfaustoi can be distinguished from them by means of shell size and shape. Some Galápagos tortoises are larger than C. N. Donfaustoi, with higher anterior opening of the shell.

Range and habitat

Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi, known as the eastern Santa Cruz tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise living on Santa Cruz Island, within the Galápagos.

Although traditionally classified together, the lineages were all shown to be more closely related to tortoises on other islands than to each other, and thus are thought to be the result of three separate colonizations of the island.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

Earlier mitochondrial DNA studies of tortoises on Santa Cruz showed up to three genetically distinct lineages found in nonoverlapping population distributions around the regions of Cerro Monturra in the northwest, Cerro Fatal in the east, and La Reserva (or La Caseta) in the southwest.

Chelonoidis donfaustoi is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Chelonoidis donfaustoi, Wikidata item Q21179602. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Chelonoidis guentheri (Chelonoidis guntheri), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Chelonoidis guentheri

Chelonoidis guntheri
Photograph of Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise (Chelonoidis phantastica), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise

Chelonoidis phantastica
Photograph of Hood Island giant tortoise (Chelonoidis hoodensis), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Hood Island giant tortoise

Chelonoidis hoodensis
Photograph of Santiago Island giant tortoise (Chelonoidis darwini), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Santiago Island giant tortoise

Chelonoidis darwini

Quick answers

What is Chelonoidis donfaustoi?
Chelonoidis donfaustoi is a tortoise in the family Testudinidae.
What is the conservation status of Chelonoidis donfaustoi?
Critically Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Chelonoidis donfaustoi. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Chelonoidis donfaustoi live?
Chelonoidis niger donfaustoi, known as the eastern Santa Cruz tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise living on Santa Cruz Island, within the Galápagos.
Why is Chelonoidis donfaustoi in crisis?
Earlier mitochondrial DNA studies of tortoises on Santa Cruz showed up to three genetically distinct lineages found in nonoverlapping population distributions around the regions of Cerro Monturra in the northwest, Cerro Fatal in the east, and La Reserva (or La Caseta) in the southwest.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Chelonoidis donfaustoi?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Chelonoidis donfaustoi a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.