The grooves carved into the boulder look strikingly similar to the pattern of a tortoise shell ... made at roughly the same time as some of the oldest known cave paintings in France.

The islands’ name comes from an old Spanish word ‘galápago’, which refers to the saddle-like shape of the tortoise shells. Originally, there were 14 different giant tortoise species here.

The tortoise is believed to be about 100 years old. It was taken by boat to the main Galapagos conservation center on Santa Cruz island. The animal “exceeds 100 years” in age and is “a very ...