But he didn't look a day over 30

March 26, 2006 12:15 AM

Addwaita is no longer. He has ceased to be. What we have here is a dead 255 year old Aldabra tortoise.
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies (26 comments total)

Long live Addwaita.
posted by sellout at 12:26 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by keijo at 12:36 AM on March 26, 2006

☸
posted by Gyan at 12:37 AM on March 26, 2006

to have lived through all those wars, uprisings, revolutions, coups, independances, partitions, transformations..

.
posted by provolot at 1:41 AM on March 26, 2006

(independences)
posted by provolot at 1:42 AM on March 26, 2006

So up until it died, this would have to have been the only animal on earth alive (that we know of) that long ago?
That's rather amazing.
posted by disillusioned at 1:59 AM on March 26, 2006

aww. 0..0
More about the critter in general. Location of Aldabra. And a little bit about the Calcutta Zoo, including their selling rhino pee.
posted by nickyskye at 2:08 AM on March 26, 2006

I love tortoises. Mostly I just meet gopher tortoises here in FL, but they're still pretty cool even if they aren't four feet long and hundreds of years old.

.
posted by Gator at 4:35 AM on March 26, 2006

he's not dead, he's pining for the fjords ...
posted by pyramid termite at 5:41 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:29 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 6:38 AM on March 26, 2006

Very interesting post. I knew such tortoises lived to great ages, but I had never heard of one so old. Thanks!
posted by annieb at 6:55 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by OmieWise at 7:13 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by JeffK at 7:34 AM on March 26, 2006

He only had 8 bits.
posted by 31d1 at 8:18 AM on March 26, 2006

So up until it died, this would have to have been the only animal on earth alive (that we know of) that long ago?
That's rather amazing.
posted by disillusioned at 3:59 AM CST on March 26 [!]

Possibly. There is some debate about certain animals being near immoral, anemones being one off the top of my head, though the oldest documented I believe is only 100 or so years. But we have a good guess that wild ones are much much older.

Then there are koi, the oldest on record living to 226 years. So perhaps not "aproximately" 250 years old. But old enough.

When I'm rich and insane, I'm going to have a pond full of koi and a garden where tortoises roam. Then will it to some poor sod to take care of, trust fund only available if they do. :)
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:43 AM on March 26, 2006

certain animals being near immoral

I could name a certain species. ;-)
posted by grubi at 9:31 AM on March 26, 2006

Why did they wait until he was 250 to finally give him a name?
posted by amro at 10:05 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by trip and a half at 10:15 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 10:47 AM on March 26, 2006

He was sickly as a child, and they wanted to be sure he was going to make it before they signed the birth certificate.
posted by faceonmars at 11:15 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by greycap at 11:51 AM on March 26, 2006

so who's up for some nice soup?
posted by Like the Reef at 11:54 AM on March 26, 2006

.
posted by ktoad at 2:40 PM on March 26, 2006

Like the Reef: You are a bad, bad person to mock the turtle soup.


posted by Sparx at 3:01 PM on March 26, 2006

If our number system were Binary, we'd all be lamenting right now that he died one short of the big 100000000.
posted by JHarris at 5:19 PM on March 26, 2006