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News tagged with tortoises

Genetic analysis shows tortoise species thought to be extinct for 150 years still lives

Dozens of giant tortoises of a species believed extinct for 150 years may still be living at a remote location in the Galapagos Islands, a genetic analysis conducted by Yale University researchers reveals.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New study shows how giant tortoises, alligators thrived in High Arctic 50 million years ago

A new study of the High Arctic climate roughly 50 million years ago led by the University of Colorado at Boulder helps to explain how ancient alligators and giant tortoises were able to thrive on Ellesmere ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Aug 24, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Zany scientists honored in alternative Nobels (Update)

In the ultimate accolade for the world's mad scientists, spoof Nobel prizes were awarded Thursday for studies into beetle sex, turtles yawning, the desperation of people dying to urinate and other daffy investigations.

Other Sciences / Other

created Sep 29, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 7

Desert clash in West over solar potential, water

(AP) -- A westward dash to power electricity-hungry cities by cashing in on the desert's most abundant resource - sunshine - is clashing with efforts to protect the tiny pupfish and desert tortoise and stinginess ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Apr 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Mosquito evolution spells trouble for Galapagos wildlife

The Galapagos giant tortoise and other iconic wildlife are facing a new threat from disease, as some of the islands' mosquitoes develop a taste for reptile blood.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 01, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Giant tortoises show rewilding can work

'Rewilding with taxon substitutes', the intentional introduction of exotic species to fulfil key functions in ecosystems following the loss of recently extinct species, is highly controversial, partly due to a lack of rigorous ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Solar showdown in Calif. tortoises' desert home

(AP) -- On a strip of California's Mojave Desert, two dozen rare tortoises could stand in the way of a sprawling solar-energy complex in a case that highlights mounting tensions between wilderness conservation ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jan 02, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 3

Madagascar's radiated tortoise threatened with extinction

A team of biologists from the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reported today that Madagascar's radiated tortoise - considered one of the most beautiful tortoise species ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 05, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Mini or massive? For turtles and tortoises, it all depends on where you live

(PhysOrg.com) -- Biologists from the UCLA Division of Life Sciences have reported the first quantitative evidence for an evolutionary link between habitat and body size in turtles and tortoises.

Biology / Evolution

created Feb 02, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New strategy offers hope for Florida's gopher tortoises

Florida's approach to saving gopher tortoises from extinction a decade ago allowed developers to bury the docile reptiles alive in their burrows in return for what critics called "blood money" that was used to buy and protect ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists try to mate Galapagos tortoise -- again

Will Lonesome George ever become a dad? Scientists are still hoping to mate the near century-old giant tortoise from the Galapagos - even though efforts over the past two decades have failed.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 21, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Solar power development in US Southwest could threaten wildlife

Government agencies are considering scores of applications to develop utility-scale solar power installations in the desert Southwest of the United States, but too little is known to judge their likely effects on wildlife, ...

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 09, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 13

Malaysia seizes endangered Madagascan tortoises

Malaysian authorities said Monday they had seized hundreds of critically endangered live tortoises bound for pet shops.

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 14, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Archaeology find sheds new light on family pets

A University of Leicester archaeologist has discovered a bone belonging to a late19th-century tortoise from Stafford Castle, Staffordshire - believed to be the earliest archaeological evidence of a tortoise kept as a family ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jul 12, 2010 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Construction to resume on parts of solar project

(AP) -- Construction can resume on a massive Southern California solar energy project after wildlife officials determined it will not jeopardize the threatened desert tortoise, federal officials said Friday.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jun 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1