Tortoise, 178, is oldest animal

AS a photograph it looks fairly unremarkable - a tortoise nibbles at the grass in front of a Boer War prisoner and guard. But the pictures helps to mark the reptile as the oldest animal on the planet.

Jonathan, the tortoise, is believed to be 178-years-old and was about 70 at the time the black and white picture was taken. He was photographed during the Boer War around 1900, and his life has spanned eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II, and 50 prime ministers.

It was taken on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, where Jonathan still lives today, along with five other tortoises David, Speedy, Emma, Fredricka and Myrtle, in a plantation.

The previous oldest tortoise was widely thought to be Harriet, a giant Galapagos Land tortoise, who died in 2005 aged 175 in Australia. –TG

World's Last Geochelone Abigdoni Tortoise

This handsome fellow is known as “Lonesome George,” and he is a 200-pound tortoise whose entire species' survival relies upon him mating with a similar species of giant tortoise. George is between 90 and 100 years old and has an expected lifespan of 150 years. Though he hit a “sexual prime” in his early nineties none of the giant tortoise eggs that he fertilized were viable, so for now he is still the world's last example of his breed.(Link | Photo)