Volcán Wolf giant tortoise

{{Short description|Subspecies of tortoise}}

{{Subspeciesbox

|name = Volcán Wolf giant tortoise

|image = Chelonoidis nigra becki.jpg

|image_caption = Adult Volcán Wolf giant tortoise

|status = VU

|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Caccone, A. |author2=Cayot, L.J. |author3=Gibbs, J.P. |author4=Tapia, W. |date=2017 |title=Chelonoidis becki |volume=2017 |page=e.T9018A82426296 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T9018A82426296.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}

| status2 = CITES_A1

| status2_system = CITES

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}

|genus = Chelonoidis

|species = niger

|subspecies = becki

|authority = (Rothschild, 1901)

| synonyms = *Testudo becki
{{small|Rothschild, 1901}}

• Geochelone elephantopus becki
  {{small|— Pritchard, 1967}}
• Geochelone nigra becki
  {{small|— Iverson, 1992}}
• Chelonoidis nigra becki
  {{small|— David, 1994}}
• Geochelone becki
  {{small|— Cisneros-Heredia, 2006}}
• Chelonoidis becki
  {{small|— Rhodin, van Dijk, Iverson & Shaffer, 2010}}

| synonyms_ref = {{EMBL species|genus=Chelonoidis|species=becki}} www.reptile-database.org.

}}

The Volcán Wolf giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger becki), also known commonly as the Wolf Volcano giant tortoise and the Cape Berkeley giant tortoise, is a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The subspecies is native to the north side of Ecuador's Isabela Island (formerly Albemarle Island). Chelonoidis becki has links to two different lineages including that of Chelonoidis darwini from the nearby island of Santiago.{{Cite journal|title=Fission and fusion in island taxa – serendipity, or something to be expected?|year=2014|doi=10.1111/mec.12951|last1=Emerson|first1=Brent C.|last2=Faria|first2=Christiana M. A.|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=23|issue=21|pages=5132–5134|pmid=25330853|doi-access=free}} C. becki has been found to be the product of a double colonization event beginning around 199,000 years ago, and had been formed through introgression, where greater male selectivity was exhibited by purebred females in one of the lineages.{{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12919|title=Lineage fusion in Galápagos giant tortoises|year=2014|doi=10.1111/mec.12919|access-date=2021-03-25|last1=Garrick|first1=Ryan C.|last2=Benavides|first2=Edgar|last3=Russello|first3=Michael A.|last4=Hyseni|first4=Chaz|last5=Edwards|first5=Danielle L.|last6=Gibbs|first6=James P.|last7=Tapia|first7=Washington|last8=Ciofi|first8=Claudio|last9=Caccone|first9=Adalgisa|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=23|issue=21|pages=5276–5290|pmid=25223395|s2cid=36180329 }} It is most commonly found on the northern, western, and southwestern slopes of Volcán Wolf,{{Cite web|url=https://people.rit.edu/rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/Tortoise.html|title=Galapagos Giant Tortoises|website=people.rit.edu|access-date=2018-06-22}} the volcano that it is named for. Having evolved to live in a specific environment, C. becki only occupies an estimated range of about 263 square kilometers. An estimated 1,150 Volcán Wolf giant tortoises inhabit Volcán Wolf.{{Cite news|url=http://www.momtastic.com/webecoist/2012/06/26/see-shells-the-10-remaining-galapagos-tortoise-subspecies/|title=See Shells: The 10 Remaining Galápagos Tortoise Subspecies - WebEcoist|date=2012-06-26|work=WebEcoist|access-date=2018-06-22|language=en-US}}