Chelonoidis niger vicina

Chelonoidis niger vicina, commonly known as the Cerro Azul giant tortoise, Iguana Cove tortoise or the Isabela Island giant tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise endemic to Isabela Island in the Galápagos.^[1]

Cerro Azul giant tortoise
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Testudinidae
Genus:	Chelonoidis
Species:	C. niger
Subspecies:	C. n. vicina
Trinomial name
Chelonoidis niger vicina (Günther, 1875)
Synonyms
Testudo vicina Günther, 1875 Geochelone nigra vicina (Günther 1875) Testudo microphyes Günther, 1875 Testudo guentheri Baur, 1889 Testudo macrophyes Garman, 1917 Testudo vandenburghi De Sola, 1930

Population history

This population was depleted by seamen in the last 200 years and by extensive slaughter in the late 1950s and 1960s by employees of cattle companies based at Iguana Cove. Their population is thought to overlap with Chelonoidis niger guentheri.

Chelonoidis vicina at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island

Description

It has a thick, heavy shell intermediate between saddle-backed and domed, and not appreciably narrowed anteriorly. Males are larger and more saddle-backed; females are more domed. Until eradication programs, virtually all nests and hatchlings were destroyed by black rats, pigs, dogs, and cats.^[3]