Lonesome George passes, the death of a subspecies.

Lonesome George died on Sunday, and with him disappears yet another species (well ‘subspecies’ to be correct, but it still matters!!) from the face of the earth. He was the last known individual of his species the Pinta Island tortoise, Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni,

The last known individual of the subspecies was a male named Lonesome George(Spanish: Solitario Jorge)^[2], who died on 24 June 2012^[3]. In his last years, he was known as the rarest creaturein the world. George served as a potent symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos and internationally.^[4].

George was found in 1972 on Pinta Island when his subspecies was believed to be extinct. Since then he has been a conservation icon for the Galápagos National Park Service. Unfortunately, repeated efforts to breed Lonesome George with two females from the Espanola tortoise population, species Chelonoidis nigra, had failed. However, he at least had their company until the end.

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