Sunday, June 25, 2006

Darwin's tortoise has died


Harriet, a 176 year-old tortoise that was believed to have been studied by naturalist Charles Darwin and help him pioneer his theory of evolution (a theory right-wingers have since proven to be poppycock, since it didn't involve Adam and Eve), died in Australia after a short illness on Friday. The elderly tortoise, who must have been the slowest thing ever to tread the planet, was hatched on the Galapagos islands in 1830, and had spent her twilight years at the Australian Zoo in Queensland, where she was the star attraction. Harriet is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest living animal. Not anymore. Now some other creature can leap into that coveted slot. Like Carol Channing, perhaps?