Lonesome George was first seen by a Hungarian scientist on the Galapagos island of Pinta in 1972. Environmentalists had believed his subspecies ( Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni ) had become extinct.

The world’s rarest creature died in 2012. His name was Lonesome George, and he was the last Pinta Island tortoise, a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise. By most estimates, he was 100 years old ...