''Aldabrachelys abrupta'', the abrupt giant tortoise, is an extinct species of

giant tortoise Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the ...

that was endemic to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Ecology

It was a large species, roughly 115 cm in length. It was originally one of the six endemic

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

species of Madagascar (two large ''

Aldabrachelys ''Aldabrachelys'' is the recognised genus for the Seychelles and Madagascan radiations of giant tortoises, including the Aldabra giant tortoise (''Aldabrachelys gigantea''). Naming This name is problematic in that the type specimen is actually r ...

''; three medium ''

Astrochelys ''Astrochelys'' is a genus of tortoises in the family Testudinidae. The two species are both found in Madagascar, and both classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) R ...

''; two small ''

Pyxis Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (contrasting with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas-Lo ...

''). It was sympatric with the other giant tortoise species of Madagascar, Grandidier's giant tortoise ('' Aldabrachelys grandidieri'' (also extinct)), and both species occupied both the coasts and the cooler highlands of Madagascar, where they fulfilled the role of large grazers. ''A. abrupta'' was a browser of bushes and low-hanging branches; ''A. grandidieri'' was a grazer of grassy meadows and wetlands. Unlike its sister species, which had a low, flattened shell, ''A. abrupta'' had a high, domed shell.

Extinction

Material of this species has been dated to 750–2850 years before present, and it seems to have been widely distributed throughout Madagascar. It was estimated to have gone extinct c. AD 1200. However, remains with disputed dating have suggested that some survived up until at least 1500, and it seems to have survived a considerable time in coexistence with humans, before it finally died out.Rhodin, AGJ, Thomson, SA, Georgalis, GL, Karl, H-V, Danilov, IG, Takahashi, A, de la Fuente, MS, Bourque, JR, Delfino, M, Bour, R, Iverson, JB, Shaffer, HB, and van Dijk, PP. 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'' (ISSN 1088-7105) 5(8):000e.1–66. doi:10.3854/crm.5.000e.fossil.checklist.v1.2015

References

External links

Aldabrachelys Extinct animals of Madagascar Holocene extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1868 Extinct turtles {{Turtle-stub