Charles Darwin’s tortoise dies – Top stories – Breaking News 24/7 – NEWS.com.au

Harriet was 176 years old.  Imagine that; imagine being a tortoise 176 years old.  This was the tortoise that Charles Darwin studied on that Galapagos.  She was around during the Civil War, and during both World Wars.  Nations have risen and fallen since Harriet was born.  Well, okay, maybe not that many nations, but still.  The British Empire fell.  And through it all, of course, Harriet was just a tortoise who had much more important things on her mind: like crunching leaves, eating sticks, and wondering how in the world to convince her human captors that she was, after all, female.

She lived a long, full, and occasionally confused life.  Godspeed, big turtle.