Harriet (tortoise)

Harriet (tortoise)

Harriet (c. 1830 – June 23, 2006) was a Galápagos tortoise (Geochelone nigra porteri) who had an estimated age of 175 years at the time of her death in Australia. Harriet is the third oldest tortoise, behind Tu'i Malila, who died in 1965 at the age of 188, and Adwaita, who died in 2006 at the estimated age of 255.

She was reportedly collected by Charles Darwin during his 1835 visit to the Galápagos Islands as part of his round-the-world survey expedition, transported to England, and then brought to her final home, Australia, by a retiring captain of the Beagle. However, some doubt was cast on this story by the fact that Darwin had never visited the island that Harriet originally came from.

Read more about Harriet (tortoise):  HMS Beagle, Harriet's Subspecies, Other Theories About Harriet, Later Life, Character, Timeline For Harriet

Famous quotes containing the word harriet:

    Summer is different. We now have breakfast together, for example ... it hasn’t happened in so long that we’re not sure how to go about it. So we bump into each other in the kitchen. I never saw Ozzie and Harriet bump into each other in the kitchen—not once. Ozzie knew his place was at the table, while Harriet knew that her place was at the stove.
    Nathan Cobb (20th century)