‘Jonathan’ Is the Oldest Land Animal on Earth. He Could Hold the Secrets to Defying Death
Jonathan, a 194-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise, was born before the Civil War. Scientists have now sequenced his genome to reveal what’s behind his extreme longevity, so we can live longer too.
Jonathan, the world's oldest living land animal, is a 194-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise. Born around 1832 in the Seychelles archipelago, Jonathan was already in his twenties when Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species." In his fifties, he was brought to Saint Helena, where he has lived ever since. Aldabra giant tortoises often become centenarians, but Jonathan stands out as a major outlier, approaching nearly 200 years on this planet.
To understand his extreme lifespan, researchers sequenced his genome for the first time, revealing "unique gene variants in most aging pathways" including DNA repair, insulin regulation, mitochondrial function, and "low entropy" methylation. The study, published in Science Advances, is a groundbreaking step in understanding the complex processes of aging.
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