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Dipsochelys dussumieri (GRAY, 1831)

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Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudines (turtles) 
Subspecies 
Common NamesAldabra Giant Tortoise 
SynonymTestudo indica SCHNEIDER 1783 (ex errore), DEKAY in HARLAN 1827: 292
Testudo dussumieri GRAY 1831
Testudo elephantina DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 110
Testudo gigantea SCHWEIGGER 1812 (ex errore) DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 120
Testudo Elephantina — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 221
Testudo Gigantea — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 221
Testudo ponderosa GÜNTHER 1877: 35
Testudo hololissa GÜNTHER 1877 (part.)
Testudo sumeirei SAUZIER 1892: 396
Testudo gouffei ROTHSCHILD 1906: 753
Testudo daudinii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835 (ex errore) SAUZIER 1895: 2
Testudo gigantea daudinii — MERTENS & WERMUTH 1955
Aldabrachelys gigantea — LOVERIDGE & WILLIAMS 1957: 259
Aldabrachelys gigantea — BOUR 1980
Cylindraspis indica — BOUR 1980
Dipsochelys elephantina — BOUR 1982: 117
Megalochelys gigantea — OBST 1985
Aldabrachelys elephantina — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 8
Geochelone gigantea — VALVERDE 2004
Dipsochelys elephantina — DEVAUX 2004
Dipsochelys dussumieri — VALVERDE 2004
Geochelone dussumieri — FRITZ & HAVAS 2006
Dipsochelys elephantina — BONIN et al 2006
Geochelone gigantea — ZUG 2009
Aldabrachelys gigantea — BALMER et al. 2010
Aldabrachelys gigantea — SKUBOWIUS 2012

Cylindraspis triserrata GÜNTHER 1873
Testudo schweigeri GRAY 1831 (?)
Testudo Schweiggeri — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 108
Testudo Schweiggeri — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 221
Testudo schweiggeri BOULENGER 1889 (nom. emend. pro T. schweigeri GRAY) 
DistributionAldabra Atoll (Indian Ocean, Grande Terre, Picard, Malabar), introduced on Curieuse and Fregate (granitic Seychelles). Small groups exist on Cerf, Moyenne, Silhouette, Cousin, Cousine, Bird and Denis in the central Seychelles, on several of the Amirantes, and on Changu Island near Zanzibar (Tanzania).

Type locality: Aldabra [same for Testudo elephantina DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835] Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
TypesLectotype: Leiden Museum
Neotype: USNM 269962 for Testduo gigantea from Aldabra Atoll.
Holotype: MNHN [T. gigantea, see Ceriaco & Bour 2012] 
CommentSynonymy modified after GERLACH & CANNING 1998. Pritchard (1986) states that the original description of Testudo gigantea by SCHWEIGGER 1812 appears to be based on a specimen of what is now Geochelone denticulata (see also BOUR 2006). Testudo indica may be conspecific with C. inepta (BOUR 1980 and AUSTIN et al. 2002). Testudo graii is a synonym of T. indica, as is C. borbonica (AUSTIN et al. 2002).

Nomenclature: The current name of this species is under debate. See Frazier et al. (2009) and Chambers et al. (2010) in Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature (see URLs). The case has not been decided by June 2012 (J. Savage 2012, Herp. Rev. 43: 175).

Conservation: Note that other species of Dipsochelys/Cylindraspis are only known as being subfossil (C. borbonica, C. vosmaeri [extinct 1795], C. peltastes, C. triserrata (Mauritius) and C. inepta; see Austin et al. 2002). Cylindraspis indica has been extinct since 1760 (fide JOSEPH-OUNI 2005).

Dipsochelys dussumieri is the only member of the genus Dipsochelys which is still found in the wild (all other species are either extinct or are maintained exclusively in captivitiy). wild. Bourne and Coe (1978) estimated that 150,000 individuals survived on Aldabra, although resource depletion (Gibson and Hamilton, 1984) and competition with goats have since caused population declines. Aldabran tortoises were recently introduced to Curieuse Island (1978–1982) and Fregate Island (1968–1973) in the Seychelles as a conservation strategy and tourist attraction (Hambler, 1994). Aldabrachelys gigantea daudinii = Dipsochelys dussumieri daudinii has been extinct since ca. 1850.

Etymology: Named after Jean-Jacques Dussumier (1792-1883), a trader-shipowner in the French mercantile marine, who collected specimens from many areas.

Reproduction: oviparous. 
References
  • Austin, J. J., N. Arnold & R. Bour 2002. The provenance of type specimens of extinct Mascarene Island Giant Tortoises (Cylindraspis) revealed by ancient mitochondrial DNA sequences. Journal of Herpetology 36 (2): 280-285 - get paper here
  • BALMER, OLIVER; CLAUDIO CIOFI, DAVID A. GALBRAITH, IAN R. SWINGLAND, GEORGE R. ZUG, AND ADALGISA CAC 2010. Population Genetic Structure of Aldabra Giant Tortoises. Journal of Heredity, doi:10.1093/jhered/esq096
  • Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp.
  • Bour, R. 1984. L'identite de Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812 (Reptilia, Chelonii). BULLETIN DU MUSEUM NATIONAL D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE SECTION A ZOOLOGIE BIOLOGIE ET ECOLOGIE ANIMALES 6 (1):159-175
  • Bour, R. 2006. Identity of Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812 and rediscovery of the type specimen. Emys 13 (4): 12-23.
  • Bour,R. 1980. Essai sur la taxinomie des Testudinidae actuels (Reptilia, Chelonii). Bull. Mus. natl. Hist. nat. Paris (4) 2 (2): 541-546
  • Bour,R. 1980. Systematique des tortues terrestres des iles Mascareignes: genre Cylindraspis Fitzinger, 1835 (Reptilia, Chelonii). BULLETIN DU MUSEUM NATIONAL D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE SECTION A ZOOLOGIE BIOLOGIE ET ECOLOGIE ANIMALES 2 (3): 895-904
  • Bourne, D.M., Coe, M.J. 1978. The size, structure, and distribution of the giant tortoise population of Aldabra. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 282, 139–175.
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • CERÍACO, LUIS M. P.; & ROGER BOUR 2012. Schweigger’s (1812) chelonian types from the extinct eighteenth century Portuguese “Royal cabinet of natural history of Ajuda”: some contributions for their identification and nomenclatural implications. Zootaxa 3395: 18–32 - get paper here
  • Chambers, P. 2004. A sheltered life. The unexpected history of the Giant Tortoise. Oxford University Press, New York, and John Murray London, xiv + 306 pp. [review in HR 37: 374]
  • Chambers, P.; Bour, R, Iverson JB, Pritchard PCH; Pauly, GB; Joyce, WG; Cheke, A.; Werner, YL; Duboi 2010. Comments on the proposed conservation of usage of Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812 (currently Geochelone (Aldabrachelys) gigantea) (Reptilia, Testudines) 1 (Case 3463). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 67 (1): 71-90 - get paper here
  • Cimatti, E. 2005. Zanzibar - Zala Zoological Park. Reptilia (GB) (39): 62-68 - get paper here
  • Das, I. & Grismer, L.L. 2003. Two new species of Cnemaspis Strauch 1887 (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from the Seribuat Archipelago, Pahang and Johor States, West Malaysia. Herpetologica 59 (4): 544-552 - get paper here
  • Devaux, B. 2004. The Giant Tortoise of the Indian Ocean - Dipsochelys elephantina. Reptilia (GB) (37): 35-42 - get paper here
  • Devaux, B. 2008. Die Aldabra-Riesenschildkröte Dipsochelys dussumieri. Reptilia (Münster) 13 (69): 56-63 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M.C., G. BIBRON & A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 9. Paris, XX + 440 S. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Frazier, J 2009. Case 3463. Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812 (currently Geochelone (Aldabrachelys) gigantea: Reptilia, Testudines): proposed conservation of usage of the specific name by maintenance of a designated neotype, and suppression of Testudo dussumieri Gray Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 66(1): 34-50.
  • Frazier, J. 2006. A neotype for the Aldabra tortoise, Testudo gigantea Schweigger, 1812. Herpetological Review 37 (3): 275-280.
  • FRAZIER, J. & PAT MATYOT 2010. On the identity of Monsieur Dussumier’s Dutch tortoise and the lectotype of Testudo dussumieri Gray, 1831. Zootaxa 2665: 29–50 - get paper here
  • Gerlach, J. 1999. Distinctive neural bones in Dipsochelys Giant Tortoises: structural and taxonomic characters. J. Morphol. 240: 33-37
  • Gerlach, J. 2004. Conservation of Seychelles Giant Tortoises. Reptilia (GB) (37): 80-84 - get paper here
  • Gerlach, J. 2011. Development of Distinct Morphotypes in Captive Seychelles–Aldabra Giant Tortoises. Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 10(1):102-112
  • Gerlach,J. & Canning, L. 1998. Identification of Seychelles Giant Tortoises. Linnaeus Fund Research Report. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 3 (1): 133-135
  • Gerlach,J. & CANNING,L. 1998. Taxonomy of Indian Ocean Giant Tortoises (Dipsochelys). Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 3 (1): 3-19
  • Gibson, C.W.D., Hamilton, J. 1984. Population processes in a large herbivorous reptile: the giant tortoise of the Aldabra atoll. Oecologia 61, 230–240.
  • Gray, J. E. 1831. Synopsis Reptilium or short descriptions of the species of reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta, tortoises, crocodiles, and enaliosaurians. Treuttel, Wurz & Co., London, 85 pp.
  • Günther, A. 1877. The gigantic land tortoises (living and extinct) in the collection of the British Museum. London, 96 pp.
  • Hambler, C. 1994. Giant tortoise (Geochelone gigantea) translocation to Curieuse Island (Syechelles): success or failure? Biol. Cons. 69, 293–299.
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  • Joseph-Ouni, M. 2004. Profiles of Extinction #11. Rodrigues Island Giant Tortoise. Cylindraspis vosmaeri. Reptilia (GB) (37): 6 - get paper here
  • Joseph-Ouni, M. 2005. Profiles of Extinction #13: Réunion Island Giant Tortoise, Cylindraspis indica. Reptilia (GB) (39): 4 - get paper here
  • Palkovacs, Eric P.; Justin Gerlach and Adalgisa Caccone 2002. The evolutionary origin of Indian Ocean tortoises (Dipsochelys) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 24 (2002) 216–227 - get paper here
  • Pawlowski, S. & Krämer, C. 2006. Herpetologische Eindrücke von den zentralen Sychelleninseln Praslin, Curieuse, La Digue und Cousin. Elaphe 14 (3): 53-61
  • Peters, U.W. 1978. Geslaagde kweek van de reuzenschildpad van Aldabra, Testudo gigantea gigantea. Lacerta 37 (3): 50-52 - get paper here
  • Pritchard,P.C.H. 1986. A reinterpretation of Testudo gigantea SCHWEIGGER 1812. Journal of Herpetology 20 (4): 522-534 - get paper here
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  • Siebenrock, F. 1903. Bemerkungen zu Herrn Dr. P. Schacht’s Abhandlung: “Beiträge zur Kenntnis der auf den Seychellen lebenden Elephanten-Schildkröten”. Zool. Anz. 26: 366-368 - get paper here
  • Skubowius, Bernd 2012. Echsen, Schildkröten, Amphibien und Spinnentiere – die vielfältige Welt der „creeping crawlers“ in Arizona Draco 13 (50): 70-78 - get paper here
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