The Galápagos Giant Tortoise and Wallace’s Giant Bee have both been rediscovered in only a matter of weeks.
While completely unrelated, two synchronistic wildlife discoveries have been linked to giant animals which were thought to be extinct.
The first is the largest bee in the world, called the Wallace’s Giant Bee. This creature hasn't been seen since 1981 and was spotted on an Indonesian island.
While the technical name for this bee is "Megachile pluto", it was named after the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, the person first to spot the mammoth insect.
The discovery was made by photographer Clay Bolt, that shared his account with Global Wildlife Conservation. It was also documented by the Australian university’s school of life and environmental sciences. Professor Simon Robson, a team member, said “Amid such a well-documented global decline in insect diversity, it’s wonderful to discover that this iconic species is still hanging on.”
The second discovery was made on the Galápagos islands. There, the Fernandina giant tortoise has been spotted, in the first sighting for over 110 years.
The female tortoise was seen on February 17th 2019, during an expedition to the island of Fernandina. That's the first sighting since 1906, although there was a possible sighting in 2009. The group has also discovered evidence, like excrement and bite marks on cacti, suggesting that there are more members of the species on this island.
NOTICIA MUNDIAL | En la isla Fernandina - #Galápagos, la expedición liderada por @parquegalapagos y @SaveGalapagos, localizaron un espécimen (hembra adulta) de la especie de tortuga Chelonoidis Phantasticus, que se creía extinta hace más de 100 años. pic.twitter.com/51HbqWcwMG
— Marcelo Mata (@Marcelo_MataG) February 19, 2019
“The conservation of Galápagos giant tortoises has been my world for 29 years, and I have been involved in many exciting events, including the discovery of a new species of tortoise. But this time, the emotion I feel is indescribable,” Wacho Tapia, Director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative at the Galápagos Conservancy, stated.
He added: “To find a living tortoise on Fernandina Island is perhaps the most important find of the century. The only live specimen of the species from Fernandina (Chelonoidis phantasticus) was found 112 years ago”.
“Now we just need to confirm the genetic origin of this female. She is old but she is alive!”
Image credits: parquegalapagos
Reference: Truth Theory
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