The world’s oldest known living reptile is known as, “Johnathan the Tortoise”.

The giant tortoise originally from Seychelles, off the coast of Africa, is known as Jonathan the Tortoise is expected to be around 190 years old. Jonathan arrived at St. Helena in 1882, who was given as a diplomatic gift. Jonathan still resides in St. Helena, which is a British Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.

He is believed to be the oldest living tortoise, according to the Guinness World Records. Surpassing the record previously held by Tu’i Malila, a tortoise from Madagascar who died at the age of 188 years, back in 1965.

It's expected that Jonathan might be older, however, due to limited records there is no official date of when he was born. Although he is thought to be born in 1932. Officially, he was celebrated in 2022 for reaching his 190th year. Throughout his lifetime, Jonathan has survived some of history's most iconic moments such as: the first postage stamp (1840), Graham Bell’s first phone call (1876), and Queen Victoria’s rule (1837).

Image: Luke McKernan