Would you like to live for two centuries? Believe it or not, there’s a creature walking the earth that could actually pull that off. His name is Jonathan, and he’s a tortoise from Seychelles, currently living on the island of St Helena.
Jonathan was born circa 1832, meaning he’s not only the oldest animal in the world with 189 years but also the oldest chelonian ever. Also, according to the Guinness World Records, he already outlived the oldest human ever by 67 years.
“In his lifetime, Jonathan has lived through two world wars, the Russian Revolution, seven monarchs on the British throne, and 40 US presidents. His estimated year of birth also predates the release of the Penny Black, the first postage stamp (1840), the building of the first skyscraper (1885) and the completion of the Eiffel Tower (1887) – the tallest iron structure. Other human milestones to have taken place in his long life include the first photograph of a person (1838), the first incandescent light bulb (1878) and the first powered flight (1903),” reads the report by Guinness World Records.
To put this into context, the average lifespan of a tortoise goes from 80 to 150 years, meaning that he’s already lived twice as much as some of his species.
Gladly, Jonathan isn’t alone at home right now. He’s currently sharing the yard of ‘his’ Georgian mansion with David, Emma, and Fred; his fellow giant tortoises.
And, while he was originally thought to be just a regular Aldabran tortoise, further examination has now determined that he’s a rarer morphotype with just around 80 like him around the world. Hopefully, he’ll be around for much longer and will continue making history.