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A 190 - year - old tortoise advert Jonathan has become the old tortoise ever , add up to his leaning of eld - defying accolades .
Jonathan is approximate to have been birth in 1832 , which means he turned , or turn , 190 days erstwhile in 2022,Guinness World Recordsannounced on Jan. 12 . To put that into context , Jonathan was born before Queen Victoria ascended the British crapper in 1837 .
Jonathan the oldest tortoise ever on Saint Helena, part of a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The older Seychelles giant tortoise ( Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa ) was already the Guinness World Record holder for the oldest surviving land animal , but now he is formally the oldestturtleor tortoise ever recorded . He beat previous disk - holder Tu’i Malila , a radiated tortoise ( Astrochelys radiata ) that lived to be at least 188 years old before dying in 1965 .
Jonathan live on St. Helena , an island in the South Atlantic Ocean . " He is a local ikon , emblematic of persistence in the face of alteration , " Joe Hollins , Jonathan ’s veterinarian , told Guinness World Records .
colligate : The longest - inhabit animals on Earth
Jonathan arrived on St. Helena in 1882 when he was about 50 years old , according to theBritish Museumin London . A photograph of Jonathan dated between 1882 and 1886 present him fully grown , which suggests he was at least 50 yr old when it was get , so he could be older than 190 years today .
In his twilight years , Jonathan is blind and ca n’t smell but still grazes on the grounds of the governor of St. Helena ’s manse where he live on with fellow giant tortoises David , Emma and Fred . He is feed by hand once a week to ensure he gets enough small calorie . His pet food include cabbage , cucumberand carrots , according to Guinness World Records . As well as feeding , Jonathan ’s main pursuit let in sleeping and mating .
" In spite of his geezerhood , Jonathan still has good libido and is discover frequently to mate with Emma and sometimes Fred — animals are often not especially gender - sensitive ! " Hollins told Guinness World Records .
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Scientists do n’t yet understand all of the processes that give up tortoises like Jonathan to live for so long . Giant tortoise promptly vote out off damage cells in a process calledapoptosis , which may help oneself protect them against price to cells that unremarkably deteriorate as we age , Live Science antecedently cover .
Jonathan ’s longevity may be unmatched on land , but there are longer living animals in water . For instance , Greenland sharks(Somniosus microcephalus ) have an estimated maximum life history couplet of at least 272 year , andHydra , a group of minor Portuguese man-of-war - alike invertebrate , continually regenerate their cells and do n’t seem to age at all .
Originally put out on Live Science .
