AnAge entry for Aldabrachelys gigantea
Classification (HAGRID: 03764)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia (Taxon entry)
Order: Testudines (Taxon entry)
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Aldabrachelys
- Species
- Aldabrachelys gigantea
- Common name
- Aldabra tortoise
- Synonyms
- Geochelone gigantea, Dipsochelys dussumieri
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- Maximum longevity
- 152 years (captivity)
- Source
- ref. 527
- Sample size
- Large
- Data quality
- Acceptable
- Observations
Anecdotal evidence suggests that these animals do not age. Still, increased mortality with age and size in the wild has been reported, though it could be due to increased predation [0002]. An individual apparently died accidentally after 152 years in captivity. Because this animal was caught as an adult, it was probably around 180 years old [0527]. One male specimen called "Adwaita" was reported to have been anywhere between 150 and 255 years of age when he died at Alipore Zoo in Calcutta, India. Allegedly, "Adwaita" was a pet of British general Robert Clive before arriving at the zoo in 1875. This anecdotal report has not been confirmed.
One Seychelles giant tortoise named "Jonathan", living on Saint Helena, is allegedly over 180 years of age, but this has not been confirmed. Moreover, although the Aldabra Atoll is in the Seychelles, there is some debate whether the Seychelles giant tortoise is a different species or a subspecies (/hololissa/) of the Aldabra tortoise.
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- 9,131 days
- Male sexual maturity
- 9,131 days
- Incubation
- 7397 days
- Adult weight
- 117,200 g
Metabolism
No information on metabolism is available.
References
- [1308] Myhrvold et al. (2015), An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles
- [0527] Castanet (1994), Age estimation and longevity in reptiles (PubMed)
- [0014] Leonard Hayflick (1994), How and Why We Age
- [0002] Caleb Finch (1990), Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 936901
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account (if available)
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
- Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
- Images
- Google Image search
- Internet
- Search Google