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11:41am August 13, 2013

odditiesoflife:

Adwaita the Tortoise - The Longest Living Creature Ever

Although some say that it is not confirmed, Adwaita (also known as the ‘Clive of India’ tortoise), a male Aldabra giant tortoise is believed to be the longest-living animal in the world. Even with the long life expectancy of giant tortoises, reportedly Adwaita had a life that lasted approximately 255 years. Estimates put his birth date around 1750.

The tortoise was originally owned by General Robert Clive, an important member of the East India Company. The Aldabra tortoise was a gift to Clive from the British seafarers who captured the tortoise from the Seychelles Islands. Reports show that Clive had four such tortoises in his villa in Latbagan at Barrackpore, in the suburbs of Kolkata. Unfortunately, Clive was a suffering opium addict who committed suicide in 1774 at the age of 49.

Three of the other tortoises died, but Adwaita survived. He changed hands several times until he was eventually transferred in 1875 to the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata, India by Carl Louis Schwendler, the founder of the zoo. Adwaita is seen in the first picture at his home in India with a zoo caretaker. The giant tortoise spent the next 131 years at the zoo until the old-timer finally passed away in 2006. After his death, carbon dating of his shell confirmed his age of 255 years, making him the oldest living creature ever.

sources 1, 2, 3

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