[extropy-chat] Addwaita:250 years is a long time.

[Dan Clemmensen]

Hi, Joao. Thanks for the reference.

I am not a biologist. I am merely an interested spectator. However, I'm 
not sure what you mean by "anecdotal." This particular specimen appears 
to have a very well-documented provenance, documented back to at least 
1767, if the news reports are accurate. If so, he should replace the 
record for the aldebara tortoise in your database, which appears to have 
an uncertain provenance.

Joao Magalhaes wrote:

>I should point out that there is no way anyone can confirm this particular 
>longevity record, which makes it anecdotal and even suspicious.
>
>For really long-lived species, please see our AnAge database:
>
>http://genomics.senescence.info/species/query.php?show=1&sort=4&page=1
>
>Some trees and sponges appear to live thousands of years.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Joao
>
>At 09:27 PM 25/3/2006, you wrote:
>  
>
>>Addwaita died this week, Addwaita was  a tortoise who lived in the
>>Calcutta zoo.
>>
>>He was brought by a British ship to  India and given to the british
>>governor-general in 1767.
>>
>>He was given to the Calcutta zoo in 1867, when the zoo commenced operations.
>>
>>When Ifirst saw the obituary, it did not really register, except as
>>another whimisical story.
>>
>>Then I began to think about it.
>>
>>This tortoise was collected 50 years before Darwin was born, and before
>>the germ theory of disease was promulgated. The news stories do not tell
>>us which British ship collected him, but he was collected in the era of
>>Captain Cook.. On his voyage to India, he probably survived on salt
>>pork, biscuit, and grog. He survived in captivity for over 200 years,
>>during which he was cared for by a succession of keepers whose
>>scientific knowledge was absmal by today's standards.
>>
>>Addwaita is not by any mans the oldest living creature in captivity.
>>Some of the Bonsai on the Japanese imperial collection are 750 years old.
>>
>>
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>>
>
>---
>
>Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, PhD
>
>Harvard Medical School, Dept. of Genetics
>77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Room 238
>Boston, MA 02115
>Telephone: 1-617-432-6512
>
>http://www.senescence.info 
>
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>  
>