The world’s oldest-known terrestrial animal, an Aldabra giant tortoise named Jonathan estimated to be about 194 years old, may owe his extraordinary longevity to a combination of genetic traits and an ability to keep key cellular systems functioning in a more youthful way, according to scientists.
Members of this species are known to live more than 100 years, but Jonathan has far exceeded that. Brought to the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena as a fully grown animal in 1882, likely from the Aldabra Atoll or the Granitic Seychelles, the tortoise now resides in a paddock at Plantation House, the governor’s residence.
“Other Aldabra tortoises have been claimed to have lived as long as Jonathan, but he has the most documentary evidence supporting his age,” said Benjamin Vaisvil, a researcher affiliated with the organization Kallel and co-lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
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