The Forgotten Turtle by Death, from the Daoguang Dynasty to Today, Becoming a National Treasure, and Receiving Audience from the Imperial Family
Compared to marine life, tortoises are the longest-lived terrestrial animals, and currently the oldest living animal on Earth is the Seychelles giant tortoise ‘Jonathan’. It is currently 188 years old. It has lived since the Daoguang dynasty and is still alive today.
Seychelles giant tortoises belong to a subspecies of the Abrams tortoise. Regarding this species, what is most familiar to people is Adevita, it lived from the Qianlong period to 2006.
The color of Seychelles giant tortoises is mainly light brown and pale yellow, and the plastron is particularly obvious. The fourth vertebral shield has a very obvious downturn, and the fifth vertebral shield and tail shield are generally retracted inward, enclosing the entire tail. Adult Seychelles giant tortoises can reach a length of 1.3 meters or more, with a weight of 300 kilograms.
Although belonging to the tortoise family, they have relatively strong swimming ability. In a sense, they are the first swimming masters in the tortoise family. Moreover, when they are in the water, the Abrams tortoise changes dramatically, becoming much more flexible.
Wild individuals have gone extinct, and currently only artificially raised individuals are still alive, because the number is really scarce, which is the first protected tortoise in the world, it is CITESII level conservation class, and the largest and oldest tortoise in the world.
It was born around 1832, which is the 12th year of the Daoguang dynasty. At that time, the slave system had not yet been abolished. The small island where it lived was used as a hiding place for slave traders. Many Seychelles giant tortoises were caught and eaten, but it was very clever and hid for 50 years before it was caught.
However, in 1882, it was still captured and sent to Saint Helena Island as a pet to Hudson Janisch, which allowed it to avoid being eaten, and it became a mascot. It ate, slept and was ridden by men; it ate, slept and was ridden by women...
Two men stood on the back of the Seychelles giant tortoise, for them it was really easygoing. Their strength is very strong, two men standing on their shell will not cause them to move much.
Another thing is that Seychelles giant tortoises are very active. On average, they crawl about ten miles a day, which is almost a marathon for their slow movement speed.
Although it looks without dignity, it is at least being cared for and eating and drinking. Later, Jonathan watched those who rode him into the tomb. He lived until now.
During this period, he was also arranged to be married and received a female tortoise, but this female tortoise died when it climbed to the cliff to lay eggs.
The residents of the island dispatched a veterinarian to check it, and people realized that ‘Frederica’ was not a female tortoise, but a male tortoise.
It is difficult for male and female Seychelles giant tortoises to distinguish, because the reproductive systems of tortoises are all hidden in the body, and their appearances are the same. Ordinary people can only distinguish their gender by the mating posture. Because tortoises close their legs when mating to avoid sliding off the female’s shell. So the male tortoise’s plastron is slightly sunken, which can fit the female tortoise’s protruding carapace. So it's mostly male tortoises.
However, it turned out that ‘Frederica’ was so cooperative with Jonathan, that is, Jonathan publicly came out in 26 years, which made the residents of the island very embarrassed... But Jonathan didn’t care about it, and still insisted on having a mating activity once a week, and the two were inseparable for 26 years, but they still couldn’t get pregnant. It’s really strange that tortoises can have so many eggs at a time, so they couldn’t get pregnant at all.
‘Frederica’ is a female tortoise.
The residents of the island dispatched a veterinarian to check it, and people realized that ‘Frederica’ was not a female tortoise, but a male tortoise.
It is difficult for male and female Seychelles giant tortoises to distinguish, because the reproductive systems of tortoises are all hidden in the body, and their appearances are the same. Ordinary people can only distinguish their gender by the mating posture. Because tortoises close their legs when mating to avoid sliding off the female’s shell. So the male tortoise’s plastron is slightly sunken, which can fit the female tortoise’s protruding carapace. So it's mostly male tortoises.
However, it turned out that ‘Frederica’ was so cooperative with Jonathan, that is, Jonathan publicly came out in 26 years, which made the residents of the island very embarrassed... But Jonathan didn’t care about it, and still insisted on having a mating activity once a week, and the two were inseparable for 26 years, but they still couldn’t get pregnant. It’s really strange that tortoises can have so many eggs at a time, so they couldn’t get pregnant at all.
‘Frederica’ is a female tortoise.
The residents of the island dispatched a veterinarian to check it, and people realized that ‘Frederica’ was not a female tortoise, but a male tortoise.
It is difficult for male and female Seychelles giant tortoises to distinguish, because the reproductive systems of tortoises are all hidden in the body, and their appearances are the same. Ordinary people can only distinguish their gender by the mating posture. Because tortoises close their legs when mating to avoid sliding off the female’s shell. So the male tortoise’s plastron is slightly sunken, which can fit the female tortoise’s protruding carapace. So it's mostly male tortoises.
