Oldest Living Creature at 175. Harriet the Tortoise.

I'm curious how we know its age for sure. From what I know, scientists have a great deal of trouble studying tortoises because the tortoises live so much longer than the scientists. It's due to this that we don't actually know how long a tortoise can live. We just have estimates.

Go, Harriet! Try for 350!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Behold! The power of the Internet! If I were superstitious I would feel sorry for my participation in this thread...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Cherrypop

I read in the paper today about a tortoise, who is 85 years old and the last one known of his species. They put a reward for anyone who can spot a female of the same species. I wish I could remember what species he was.

I hope they find one for him.

At the very least, they could find some mate for him, creating a hybrid tortoise that will pass the genetics of that species on through the rest of time, even though posterity will eventually have an infinitesimal trace of this breed.

Of course, there is the cloning/gene manipulation option. We could, theoretically, make an artifical female tortoise of that breed for him to mate with. But, then again, there's no telling how stable either the female or the offspring would be.

How ya doing, buddy?