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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Genome of ‘Lonesome George’ reveals a tortoise’s secrets to long life

Blood from the world’s only remaining Pinta Giant tortoise yields clues about the genetic underpinnings of longevity.
Lonesome George, a century-old tortoise

The giant tortoise known as Lonesome George, who died in 2012 at a tortoise breeding centre in the Galapagos Islands, was the last survivor of his species. Credit: Jad Davenport/NGC

The Galapagos Islands tortoise named Lonesome George was the last member of his species when he died in 2012 at an estimated age of more than 100 years. But he lives on through his genome sequence, which hints at the genetic factors underlying the extraordinary longevity of his kind.

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Nature 564, 164 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07614-4

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