Expeditions to the remote Galapagos Islands are being drawn up to try to find more examples of a tortoise species once thought extinct in the hope that they can reproduce.
A female named Fernanda by scientists who found her in 2019 is related to Lonesome George, the only other encounter with the species who was discovered in 1906, research supported by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund found.
Fernanda is named after her Fernandina Island home, where more expeditions are being planned.
“It is a truly exciting discovery that the species is not in fact extinct, but lives on,” said study lead author Dr Evelyn Jensen from Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.
“Only two tortoises have ever been found on Fernandina Island, and here we have shown that they are indeed members of the same species, and different from the other Galapagos tortoises.”
Scientists sequenced genomes of the 1906 specimen, known as chelonoidis phantasticus, and the 2019 female. They found the two were linked and distinct from all others, according to the findings published in Communications Biology on Thursday.
“What comes next for the species depends on whether any other living individuals can be found,” Dr Jensen said.
“If there are more Fernandina tortoises, then a breeding programme could start to bolster the population. We hope that Fernanda is not the ‘endling’ of her species.”
Other expeditions found signs of at least two or three more tortoises living on the island, giving hope that Fernanda may not be the last of her kind.
For now, Fernanda is in a similar position to Lonesome George, famed for being the last of the Pinta Island Galapagos giant tortoises.
He lived out his final decades of life in captivity but never bred and his species was thought extinct in 2012 when he died of old age.
Fernandina Island is an active volcano at the western side of the Galapagos Islands, which Charles Darwin visited in 1835, inspiring his theory of evolution.
The male specimen used in the study was collected by explorer Rollo Beck during an expedition by the California Academy of Sciences in 1906.
Researchers believe Fernanda, who was found in an isolated vegetation patch cut off by lava flows, is about 50 years old and has suffered stunted growth.
She is now being kept in captivity in the Galapagos National Park Tortoise Centre.
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The%20specs
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
