The oldest turtles in the world. The oldest turtles in the world. The oldest animals What is the oldest turtle in the world

The Advaita tortoise ("only" in Sanskrit) is an animal recognized as one of the oldest in the world.

Advaita died on the night of March 22-23, 2006. It is recognized as one of the oldest animals in the world. Estimated date of birth 1750.

According to the Minister of Agriculture of the Indian state of West Bengal, Jogesh Barman, Advaita was a favorite of British General Robert Clive of the East India Trading Company and spent several years on his estate, and then, 130 years ago, he was bought by a zoo.

Advaita referred to the giant tortoises, which are called "aldabra" - after the Aldabra atoll, one of the many landmasses scattered in the Indian Ocean of the Seychelles archipelago. This place, where about 152,000 Advaita relatives live, has been declared a World Heritage Site by the UN. The average weight of such a turtle is about 120 kilograms. Advaita was very popular with tourists and attracted crowds of visitors to the Calcutta City Zoo.

Harriet's tortoise is an animal recognized as one of the oldest in the world.

An elephant tortoise named Harrietta was born around 1830 on one of the islands of the Galapagos archipelago and died on June 23, 2006 at the Australian Zoo.

It is believed that in 1835 it and two other individuals of this species were taken to the UK by the famous naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin. Since at that moment the animal was no larger than a plate, its age was estimated at five or six years. The sex of the animal was determined to be male and it received the nickname Harry.

In 1841, all three animals were transported to the Brisbane City Botanical Gardens in Australia.

In 1952, the Brisbane Botanic Gardens closed and the turtle was released into a conservation area off the Australian coast. Here it was discovered in 1960 by the director of the zoo from Hawaii and found that the sex of the animal is female. After some time, the turtle was moved to the Australian Zoo.

Since the documents of the animal were lost back in the 20s, it is not possible to document the age of the turtle. However, in 1992, genetic analysis was carried out, which confirmed that Harietta hails from the Galapagos Islands and her age is at least 162 years old.

In 2004, her 175th birthday was solemnly celebrated. Her weight at that time was 150 kg, and the size of a small dining table.

Turtle Tui Malila - Madagascar radiant tortoise (Astrochelys radiata), according to the Guinness Book of Records - one of the oldest animals in the world.

In 1773, it was presented to representatives of the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Tonga by the famous navigator Captain Cook. As of 1965, she was 188 years old.

Kiki? (fr. Kiki) - a male giant tortoise, one of the oldest animals on the planet, who died in the zoo of the Paris Garden of Plants (M?nagerie du Jardin des plantes) on November 30, 2009 at the age of 146 years.

Kiki was brought in 1923 by a Mauritian naturalist as a gift to France, already an adult.

At the time of his death, Kiki weighed 250 kg and, until his death, showed great zeal in caring for females, which earned him the love and respect of the French. The cause of death of the animal was an intestinal infection.

While we are looking for the secrets of longevity, there are creatures on our planet that live for more than a hundred years. And there are even immortals.

1. George, a huge lobster that weighs about 9.1 kg. George is approximately 140 years old. In 2008, he was caught off the coast of Newfoundland, then sold for $ 100 to a restaurant in New York. However, in 2009, under the influence of the Society for the Protection of Animals, he was released back into the ocean.

2. Tuatara Henry, who lives at the Southland Museum, New Zealand, recently celebrated his 115th birthday. Just imagine that Henry was born back in the 19th century.

Despite his advanced age, in 2009 Henry became a father.

3. Guidaki is a species of marine mollusks considered to be the largest burrowing molluscs. In addition, guidaki are also long-lived: their average life expectancy is 146 years, and the age of the oldest individual found today is 168 years.

4. This is Jonathan, 182-year-old St. Helena giant tortoise. "He is practically blind, has lost his sense of smell, but he still has good hearing," says a local veterinarian. At 182, Jonathan may be the oldest living creature on the planet.

This is Jonathan in the 1900s

This is Jonathan now.

5. Greeter is an 83-year-old flamingo who until recently lived at the Adelaide Zoo. Greeter came to the zoo in the 1930s, but was unfortunately euthanized in 2014 when his condition deteriorated.

6. In the cold dark water at a depth of 600 meters, time flows slowly. Hoplostet are a species of deep-sea fish known for reaching sexual maturity by the age of 20 and can live up to 150 years. The oldest hoplostet was born in the year when serfdom was abolished in Russia.

7. Red sea urchins live an average of about 200 years and live in shallow waters off the western coast of America. Red hedgehogs attracted particular attention of scientists after a mark dated 1805 was found on one of them.

8. Cockatoo Cookie turned 80 last year. He was caught in Australia in 1933 and shipped to the US, where he lives in the Brookfield Zoo.

9. A clam named Min, caught on the Icelandic shelf, according to the first assumptions, lived for 400 years. When re-analyzed, scientists determined its age at around 507 years.

10. Bowhead whales can live up to 200 years. The average lifespan of this species is about 40 years. However, some individuals can live up to 211 years, which is a record among vertebrates.

11. 103-year-old Granny, the oldest known killer whale, is the matriarch of the killer whale community. She was born the same year as Ronald Reagan.

12. Advaita - a giant 250-year-old turtle from the island of Aldabra. Unfortunately, Advaita died in 2006. It was very popular with tourists and attracted many visitors to the Calcutta City Zoo.

13. Turtles are famous centenarians. This is 176-year-old Hariette from the zoo in Queensland (Australia). It is believed that Charles Darwin personally found Gariette in 1835 on one of the Galapagos Islands. Hariette died in the same 2006.

There is an opinion that every living creature on Earth has a much longer life cycle, however, due to certain circumstances and various adverse factors, whether it be poor ecology, malnutrition, illness, accidents, etc., you have to leave ahead of schedule, although there are happy exceptions.

One such exception is the oldest turtle in the world, which lives in the waters of the South China Sea, which washes Vietnam's Hanoi. Answering the question about how old the oldest turtle in the world is, local residents give numbers from 529 to 1000 years, however, this fact has not received scientific confirmation. It is noteworthy that we are talking about a long-lived leatherback turtle, which was found not in the sea, but in one of the lakes of Hanoi called Hoan Kiem. At the same time, turtles of this breed are not only the oldest, but also the largest on our planet, because the average weight of this animal ranges from 300 to 500 kilograms with growth from 1 meter 35 centimeters to 2 meters 10 centimeters. But the largest specimen to date has become a leatherback turtle, the weight of which only slightly fell short of one ton, amounting to 916 kilograms. And one can only guess about how many years this sea monster lives in the world, listed both in the Red Book as an endangered subspecies, and in the Guinness Book of Records for several parameters at once (weight, length, age, etc.). Another interesting fact was the fact that the shell of these centenarians is covered with skin, not bone tissue (hence the name). In addition, these animals are deep-sea, this feature was fully used by researchers who attached special fixing devices to their shells, which made it possible to measure the depth of water bodies.

Another contender for the title of the world's longest-lived tortoise named Jonathan lives on the famous island of St. Helena and this year he celebrated his 185th birthday. For the first time this old man was noticed by a photographer who came to capture the island with his camera and this significant event took place in 1902. A little later, this picture was put up for auction, after which they became seriously interested in the life of the turtle and decided to find out interesting facts from its biography. As a result, it was found that Jonathan came to St. Helena with his owners at the end of the Nineteenth century, and since then he has changed more than one family. In addition, scientists noted the amazing lovingness of this old-timer male, because even today, despite his advanced age, he has three young lovers at once and feels great in their society. To date, Jonathan has become one of the attractions of the famous island, posing with pleasure for visiting tourists.

Another interesting biography of the oldest turtle in the world was his first bath, which took place last year under the supervision of a local veterinarian. The same doctor completely revised Jonat's diet, making it more varied and high in calories, as a result of which the animal gained weight and became even more cheerful and active. So, the main menu of the island old-timer, who survived 8 rulers and 28 governors in his lifetime, mainly consists of fresh vegetables and fruits, he gives the greatest preference to guava, bananas and apples.

It is known that the huge Seychelles tortoises also have a special longevity, which often live up to 150 years of age. India can also boast of such rare animals, however, this year a real tragedy occurred in one of the cities of this wonderful country - the local Advitta tortoise, which for a long time was considered the oldest animal on the planet, died at the age of 256. It is noteworthy that this animal also came to Calcutta from the Seychelles and was brought by Indian sailors, who were amazed at its size.

This turtle, like its brother Jonathan, survived more than one government, eventually falling from private hands into the local zoo, automatically becoming its main attraction. After Adwitta's death, the authorities decided to keep her shell as a souvenir, which can be seen today in one of the museums in Calcutta.

Mother Nature surprises us all the time. Most surprising of all are the facts of the longevity of creatures. Turtles are among the ten most ancient creatures living on land. They have inhabited the planet for 220 million years. There are also long-lived turtles among them, whose age has exceeded far over a hundred years.

There are amazing animals on Earth, whose age is simply amazing. But not all long-livers records have been documented.

There is information that sheds light on how old the oldest tortoise is: Samira, who lived a little over three centuries. Although such a statement is debatable, since it has not been documented.

Here is a list of the longest living turtles in the world:

Name View Age (in years)
Samira Galapagos 270-315
Advaita Seychelles 150-255
Tui Malila Madagascar radiant 189-192
Jonathan Seychelles 183
Harriet ivory 175
Timothy mediterranean 160
Kiki gigantic 146

Of all those listed, only Jonathan, the giant Seychellois tortoise, is alive today.

Samira

This oldest tortoise in the world ended its life in Egypt (Cairo) at a very respectable age. According to some sources, at that moment she was 270 years old, according to others - all 315. In recent years, this old animal has already ceased to move independently.

In 1891, the reptile was presented to the zoo by King Farouk, the last monarch of Egypt.

Advaita

Lord Robert Clive, before his departure for India, was presented in 1767 by British soldiers returning from the Seychelles with this exotic animal.

The reptile first lived in the garden of the lord's house. Then, after his death in 1875, she was taken to the Alipore Zoological Garden in the city of Calcutta. But there was no evidence that it was Advaita that the soldiers presented to the lord.


The animal died in 2006. It is assumed that she lived a little over a quarter of a millennium - 255 years. To prove this fact, it was decided to keep her shell. Zookeepers plan to determine the exact age of the reptile with the help of an examination.

Tui Malila

The age that this long-lived turtle has reached is a Guinness record. Although in this case, the exact age of the reptile could not be established.

According to undocumented information, in 1773 it was presented as a gift to the native leader by Captain Cook himself. Tui Malila ended up on the island of Tonga.


The preserved body of Tui Malila is currently on display at the Tongan National Center on Tongatapu.

Assuming it was a one-year-old turtle, it would have been 192 years old at the time of its death in 1966. But there is information that the animal leader received a little later. Then the record holder lived to be 189 years old.

Lately, Malila has completely stopped moving and can no longer see anything. She ate only what was put directly to her mouth. The patterns on the shell darkened, it became almost one-color - almost black.

Jonathan

From the Seychelles, this giant tortoise was transported in company with three others in 1882 and presented to the Governor of Saint Helena. The animals were at that time about half a century old.

This conclusion was made because of the rather large size of their shells. The evidence is a photo taken around 1886-1900, in which Jonathan is photographed with two men. The picture clearly shows that the reptile is quite large, its shell resembles a small table in size. Because of this, they decided that the turtle was half a century old at the time of the move.


Jonathan the Seychellois giant tortoise

In 1930, the then governor of the island, Spencer Davis, decided to name the almost hundred-year-old male. So the oldest of all living beings on the planet still lives in the official residence of the governor of the island.

In 2019, Jonathan will celebrate his 183rd birthday. He is still quite cheerful and active, although sometimes he shows senile intolerance. It happens that a long-liver, who considers himself the full-fledged owner of the territory of the Plantation House, will turn over all the benches in the yard, snort at people involved in work on the site and caring for the old-timer.

The image of Jonathan flaunts on the fivepenny coins of Saint Helena. He is a frequent hero of TV shows and magazine articles.

Harriet (Harietta)

Thirteen years ago (in 2006), at the age of 176, this centenarian died of a heart attack at the Australian Zoo. She was born presumably in 1830 on one of the islands of the Galapagos archipelago.

In the company of two more individuals of the same species. The turtles were about five years old. This was determined by the size of their shells - they were no more than a plate. Mistakenly, the future centenarian was mistaken for a male and named Harry.


Turtle C. Darwin - Harriet

In 1841-1952. reptiles lived in Australia in the Brisbane City Botanical Garden. Then the then Harry was transported to a conservation area on the coast of the country. Where the other two turtles went is unknown.

The world's oldest turtle lived in Australia. Why did she live? She passed away not too long ago. Everything comes to an end sometime. In this article, we will tell you about the life of this famous turtle, as well as its possible "successor". The world should know its heroes, as they say, by sight!

Contemporary of Charles Darwin

Once in the Australian Zoo lived a real contemporary of the famous naturalist named Charles Darwin, who is known for discovering the theory of human evolution. The oldest tortoise in the world, nicknamed Harriet, was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as a creature that has lived in captivity for 175 years! Just think about it: in captivity! It is hard to imagine how many owners it has changed, the very first of which was none other than Charles Darwin himself, the founder of the theory of evolution!

Life story...

Birthday

On October 11, 2005, this giant elephant and also the world's oldest tortoise celebrated its 175th birthday. Harriet was born in the time of Queen Victoria, when she was still a child, namely in 1830. Surprisingly, for the first 124 years of life, this turtle was mistaken for a male.

Who is the owner?

Interestingly, British paleontologists, who carried out a very thorough reconstruction of the turtle's past, believe that it was not Darwin who caught it, but ordinary whalers as a source of food. In addition, the hypothesis that the oldest tortoise in the world belonged to Darwin is based only on the fact that the scientist caught four giant individuals during his trip to the Galapagos Islands (1835). Allegedly, Harriet was one of them.

Soon two of the four turtles died, the remaining two were transported by ship to Australia by one of Charles Darwin's friends. Further DNA analysis showed that Harriet most likely comes from an island called Santa Cruz (Galapagos Islands).

Guilty without guilt

The oldest turtle has been the main attraction of the Queensland Zoo for the past 30 years! A study of her DNA indicates that she is at least 170 years old in any case. Today, scientists believe that about 12 of its relatives, giant elephant tortoises, are left on our planet. Moreover, zoologists blame Harriet for the small population! They claim that until the end of his life, the world's oldest tortoise retained the ability to reproduce offspring: she still ovulated, but there was no "groom" ...

Quiet and humble

According to the keepers of the zoo premises in which this turtle lived, its favorite food was hibiscus flowers. In addition, she ate eggplant, zucchini, parsley and beans and led a very modest lifestyle.

Harriet died in 2005 in the Galapagos Islands. She was 175 years old.

Continuation of the dynasty

According to unofficial data, valid as of October 2011, the world's oldest turtle is considered to be a certain male Jonathan, who lives on the island of St. Helena. Today he is supposedly 180 years old. However, this is not accurate information, because analysis of Jonathan's DNA by world scientists cannot give us exact numbers.

It is said that Jonathan still finds the strength to mate with three females. Interestingly, this turtle is a contemporary of 8 monarchs of Great Britain and its 50 prime ministers!

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