It was bound to happen sooner or later but Lonesome George, the last remaining Pinta giant tortoise on the Galapagos islands, has died.
The last of his particular sub-species, George had spent at least 40 years without any pals of his own kind. And he died young, only reaching 100 years when other similar individuals can top 200! Very sad.
See these two? Very cute right? Well yes they might be but apparently, according to research from the University of Lincoln, they don’t have much empathy for each others feelings, which was proven by the fact that tortoise yawns aren’t contagious! And this research won the team behind it an Ig Noble prize for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”.
MrE Science Blog 