Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Darwin’s Tortoise Turns 175

From ABC.net.au .com comes this article:

Imagine being born in 1830 and still being around to celebrate your birthday. The Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast celebrates the 175th birthday of the world's oldest known living animal, a Galapagos tortoise named Harriet who weighs almost 150 kilograms. But Harriet has an extra claim to fame. According to folklore, Charles Darwin adopted her as a personal pet during the historic voyage of HMS Beagle and studied her while working on his theory of evolution.

For more info on Harriet (and what may ot may be be true about her story) go to The Gardian Unlimited.
Image from HERE.