Galápagos giant tortoise

The giant that lives 175 years

The Galápagos tortoise is the biggest tortoise in the world — 400 kg! It lives 175 years — tortoises that saw your grandma's grandma are still alive. It can go a year without food or water. On each island the tortoises' shells are different — this helped Darwin understand evolution. 'Lonesome George', the last of his kind, died in 2012.

The Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger, 12–15 species) reaches 1.8 m and 400 kg — the largest land tortoise and one of the longest-lived vertebrates (175+ years). Thanks to a slow metabolism and stored water it can go a year without food — which is why 18th–19th-century sailors loaded them onto ships as 'living tinned food': numbers fell from 250,000 to 15,000. In 1835 Darwin noticed that shell shape differs on each island (domed where grass is plentiful, saddle-backed where cacti grow tall), which helped inspire the theory of natural selection. 'Lonesome George' (Pinta Island, 2012) became a symbol of extinction. On Española Island, 2,000 tortoises were bred from 15; a male named Diego fathered 800 offspring.

Fun facts

• A Galápagos tortoise can live a year without food or water.
• A tortoise called Diego fathered 800 babies and saved his species!
• A tortoise's shell is its skeleton — it can't climb out of it.