Giant Galápagos tortoises; molecular genetic analyses identify a trans-island hybrid in a repatriation program of an endangered taxon.

• publication
• 17-02-2007

Milinkovitch MC, Monteyne D, Russello M, Gibbs JP, Snell HL, Tapia W, Marquez C, Caccone A, Powell JR. BMC Ecol. 2007 ;7():2. 1472-6785-7-2. 10.1186/1472-6785-7-2. PMC1820773.

Giant Galápagos tortoises on the island of Española have been the focus of an intensive captive breeding-repatriation programme for over 35 years that saved the taxon from extinction. However, analysis of 118 samples from released individuals indicated that the bias sex ratio and large variance in reproductive success among the 15 breeders has severely reduced the effective population size (Ne).

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