40yearfan

Tortoise Believed to Have Been Owned By Darwin Dies at 176
Saturday, June 24, 2006

•Tortoise Believed to Be 250 Years Old Dies in India
SYDNEY, Australia — A 176-year-old tortoise believed by some to have been owned by Charles Darwin has died in an Australian zoo.

The giant tortoise, known as Harriet, was long reputed to have been one of three tortoises taken from the Galapagos Islands by Darwin on his historic 1835 voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.

However, historical records, while suggestive, don't prove the claim, and some scientists have cast doubt on the story, with DNA tests confirming Harriet's age but showing she came from an island that Darwin never visited.

According to local legend, Harriet was just five years old and probably no bigger than a dinner plate when she was taken from the Galapagos to Britain.

She spent a few years in Britain before being moved to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in Australia's tropical Queensland state in the mid-1800s, where she was mistaken for a male and nicknamed Harry, according to Australia Zoo, which later bought the 150-kilogram (330-pound) tortoise.

The Queensland-based zoo is owned by "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and his wife Terri.

__________________
“So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it but I couldn’t find honest employment.” —Mark Twain