Tortoise "Lonesome George," in this 1985 photo, is the only remaining specimen of a subspecies of giant tortoise found in the Galapagos Islands, which are in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador. George was found in the 1970s, living alone on the island of Pinta. His bachelor status is a problem because scientists don't want to see his genetic attributes become extinct. Yale University biologists playing matchmaker to a lonely but hard-to-please tortoise say all his prospects so far have been geographically and genetically undesirable. (AP Photo/Charles Darwin Foundation, Heidi Snell)
The only remaining Pinta Island tortoise and celebrated conservation icon, Lonesome George, passed away on June 24, 2012.