The world’s oldest turtle, Harriet, died at 176 years of age.  A giant Galapagos tortoise weighing 330 pounds (150 kilograms), she was called Harry for more than a century before it was discovered she wasn’t a he at all.  Born in 1830, she fell ill recently and quickly succumbed to an acute heart attack.

It is rumored, although unproven and certainly inconsistent with genetic testing, that she was taken from the Galapagos Islands by Charles Darwin himself.  Under the guise of that rumor, she is credited with helping him develop evolutionary theory (less specifically, Galapagos tortoises did play a major role in Darwin’s Beagle voyage, as did a great many forms of life from the Galapagos Islands).

Thus far there are no challengers to her inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest living animal.

Rest in peace, Harriet.  I’m glad it happened quickly and I’m glad you didn’t suffer.  I wish I had made it to Australia to see you before the end, but I suppose one is apt to take for granted any living being once they pass the 150-year-old mark.  That’ll teach me.