 The Pinta Island subspecies ( C. n. abingdonii , now extinct ) has been found to be most closely related to the subspecies on the islands of San Cristóbal ( C. n. chathamensis ) and Española ( C. n. <unk> ) which lie over 300 km ( 190 mi ) away , rather than that on the neighbouring island of Isabela as previously assumed . This relationship is attributable to dispersal by the strong local current from San Cristóbal towards Pinta . This discovery informed further attempts to preserve the C. n. abingdonii lineage and the search for an appropriate mate for Lonesome George , which had been penned with females from Isabela . Hope was bolstered by the discovery of a C. n. abingdonii hybrid male in the Volcán Wolf population on northern Isabela , raising the possibility that more undiscovered living Pinta descendants exist . 
