''Chelonoidis alburyorum'' is an extinct species of land

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

that lived from the

late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...

to around 1400 CE. The species was discovered and described by Richard Franz and Shelley E. Franz, the findings being published in 2009.

Name

The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

, ''alburyorum'', is in honor of Bahamian naturalist Nancy Ann Albury.

Fossil

The shell of ''C. alburyorum'' was 47 cm (19 inches) in length. Fossils of the species were discovered in Sawmill Sink, a

blue hole A blue hole is a large marine cavern or sinkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock (limestone or coral reef). Their existence was discovered in the late 20th century by fisherme ...

. Other sites where ''C. alburyorum'' fossils have been found include

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

systems and an inland deep blue sink hole. All fossils of ''C. alburyorum'' have been found in the Bahamas.

Extinction

''C. alburyorum'' was the last-surviving of the West Indian ''Chelonoidis'', persisting up to 1170 CE on the Abacos, up to 1200 CE on Grand Turk, and up to 1400 CE on the

Middle Caicos Middle Caicos is the largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, it is separated from North Caicos by Juniper Hole, and to the east, from East Caicos by Lorimer Creek, both narrow passages that can accommodate only small boats. T ...

, just under a century prior to European colonization of the islands.Turtle Extinctions Working Group (Rhodin, A.G.J., Thomson, S., Georgalis, G., Karl, H.-V., Danilov, I.G., Takahashi, A., de la Fuente, M.S., Bourque, J.R., Delfino, M., Bour, R., Iverson, J.B., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P.). 2015
Turtles and tortoises of the world during the rise and global spread of humanity: first checklist and review of extinct Pleistocene and Holocene chelonians.
Chelonian Research Monographs 5(8)

Reference

alburyorum Reptiles described in 2009 Extinct turtles Holocene extinctions {{Turtle-stub