Jonathan the Tortoise, World's Oldest Land Animal, Turns 190

Jonathan the tortoise, older than the Eiffel Tower and has survived two World Wars, seven British monarchs, and 39 U.S. presidents, is now celebrating his 190th birthday.

World's Oldest Land Animal

Saint Helena, a British overseas colony in the Atlantic Ocean off the shores of Angola and Namibia, is home to Jonathan, the oldest known terrestrial mammal in the world. At the governor's mansion on the island, the island celebrated the longest-living Chelonian's formal birthday over the weekend. On Sunday, the island staged a "major event" in Jonathan's honor where visitors could purchase Jonathan stamps and other items with Jonathan-related themes in addition to holding broadcasts about his significance.

The world's oldest tortoise and "national treasure" was shown on Sunday eating a "cake" made of some of his favorite farm veggies by the island's tourism bureau.

Jonathan owns two Guinness World Records thanks to his long life: the oldest land animal in the world in 2019 and the oldest living chelonian (a word that includes turtles, terrapins, and tortoises) in January.

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Jonathan's Long Life

He is thought to have been born in 1832, but Guinness speculates that he may have been much older because he wasn't discovered until he ended up in St. Helena in 1882, by which time he was already an adult.

The record-keeping organization claims that Jonathan has witnessed some of history's most significant events, including the first telephone conversation in 1876, the erection of the Eiffel Tower in 1887, the Wright Brothers' first powered flight in 1903, and the first lunar landing in 1969.

Despite this, Jonathan's veterinarian assured Guinness that his hobbies remained the same: eating, sleeping, and mating.

The vet, Joe, told Guinness earlier this year that Jonathan still has a decent libido despite his age. He regularly mates with Emma and occasionally Fred because animals are frequently not especially gender-sensitive.

And the partying has yet to end. According to Saint Helena's tourist website, a request is being made to declare a national holiday in honor of the tortoise.

According to Florida SouthWestern State College biology professor and turtle ecologist Jordan Donini, Jonathan and other gigantic tortoises are not the only turtles living long lives. According to him, box turtles may live for more than a century, and sea turtles can live for 50 to 100 years. In reality, because individuals need to live longer to find out, scientists are unaware of the maximum lifespans of many turtle species.

How Can Turtles Live Such Long Lives

How come turtles have such long lives? According to Lori Neuman-Lee, an assistant professor of physiology at Arkansas State University who studies turtles and other reptiles, there are biological and evolutionary explanations for the phenomenon.

The evolutionary explanation is relatively simple: Animals like snakes and raccoons like eating turtle eggs. Turtles must regularly reproduce, sometimes more than once yearly, and deposit many eggs to pass on their genes. Given how many children turtles produce, Neuman-Lee said to Live Science, "It is astonishing that turtles do not overrun the globe."

More complex biological processes underlie the lifespan of turtles.

According to Neuman-Lee, telomeres, which are structures made up of noncoding DNA strands and cap the ends of chromosomes, is one indicator of turtle lifespan. As cells divide, these structures aid in chromosomal protection. Telomeres shorten or deteriorate over time, which makes them less effective in protecting chromosomes and causes problems with DNA replication. Also, DNA replication mistakes can result in problems, including tumors and cell death.

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