ASK JiMMY ThE BuG

The Guinness Book of World Records gives the title of Oldest Tortoise to Tui Malila from Madagascar. British explorer James Cook presented him to the royal family of Tonga in the 1770s. Tui Malila lived on this Pacific island until he died in 1965, at the ripe old age of 188 ... or maybe 192. No one is sure. He didn't come with a birth certificate.

Tui Malila probably weighed around 35 pounds-feather-light compared to some of his hefty cousins. Giant Aldabra tortoises can weigh 500 pounds or more. But the "big" winners are the giant Galapagos tortoises. Some tip the scales at over 800 pounds-about the weight of 16 second-graders.

An Aldabra may break Tui Malila's record for long life. Adwaita died in 2006 at India's Calcutta Zoo. He was brought there in 1875, at 125 years old. If Adwaita really was born in 1750-the year George Washington turned 18-he would have been 256 when he died. Scientists are testing his shell to see if that's really possible. Until the results are in, the Oldest Tortoise title belongs to Tui Malila.

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Copyright Carus Publishing Company Nov/Dec 2007
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