List of subspecies of Galápagos tortoise

[1] Only 12 subspecies now exist: one on each of the islands of Santiago, San Cristóbal, Pinzón, Española, and Fernandina; two on Santa Cruz; one on each of the five main volcanoes of the largest island, Isabela (Wolf, Darwin, Alcedo, Sierra Negra, and Cerro Azul); and one, abingdoni from Pinta Island, which is considered extinct as of June 24, 2012.

[4][5] Biological taxonomy is not fixed, and placement of taxa is reviewed as a result of new research.

Prior to the 2000s, all members of this group were classified as subspecies in a single species, Chelonoidis niger.

[6] However, a 2021 study analyzing the level of divergence within the extinct West Indian Chelonoidis radiation and comparing it to the Galápagos radiation found that the level of divergence within both clades may have been significantly overestimated, and supported once again reclassifying all Galápagos tortoises as subspecies of a single species, C.

[7] This was followed by the Turtle Taxonomy Working Group and the Reptile Database later that year.

Endangered[19] Fencing of nests and dog eradication in the 1970s helped in the population recovery.

Critically Endangered[24] In 2015, the small, eastern Cerro Fatal population of the island was described as a distinct subspecies, C. n. donfaustoi, most closely related to chathamensis (and forming a clade with it plus abingdoni and hoodensis), while the main southwestern porteri population was found to be closer to the Floreana and southern Isabela tortoises.

Critically Endangered[31] At least one authority has suggested merging C. n. vicina with C. n. microphyes, C. n. vandenburghi and C. n. guentheri as the southern Isabela tortoise (C. n. vicina), putting morphological differences down to geographic variation.

Endangered[37] At least one authority has suggested merging C. n. vicina with C. n. microphyes, C. n. vandenburghi and C. n. guentheri as the southern Isabela tortoise (C. n. vicina), putting morphological differences down to geographic variation.

Critically Endangered[47] In 2015, the small, eastern Cerro Fatal population of the island was described as a distinct subspecies, C. n. donfaustoi, most closely related to chathamensis (and forming a clade with it plus abingdoni and hoodensis), while the main southwestern porteri population was found to be closer to the Floreana and southern Isabela tortoises.