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Tortoise thought to be extinct found on Galapagos Islands

00:36

Tortoise thought to be extinct found on Galapagos Islands

A giant tortoise discovered in the Galapagos Islands in 2019 is a species considered to have gone extinct more than a century ago, Ecuador has confirmed. The news, announced on Tuesday, comes after the animal was discovered during an expedition on Fernandina Island two years ago. It was then identified as chelonoidis phantasticus by scientists from Yale University. In a post on Twitter, Gustavo Manrique Miranda, the country's environment minister, wrote: "It was believed extinct more than 100 years ago! We have reconfirmed its existence ... Hope is intact!" An expedition is now being prepared to find more of them.

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