Desierto norte de Chile

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

A modern-day Sarah and Abraham

You guys remember the story of Abraham, who fathered his son Isaac at age 100 after the promise from God 20 years earlier that his descendants would become a great nation. Well, scientists in Japan are trying to (re-)create a nation from the last two remaining Giant Turtles. The female is about 80 years old and her husband is around 100! Evidently these two turtles have been chilling in Chinese zoos for better parts of their lives while their kin slowly died off. The researchers paired these guys together last spring during the mating season, and - to my surprise - the mating was a success! The female laid 100 eggs, and 50 of them appeared fertilized! Unfortunately, all of the embryos perished in early development, apparently due to thin or cracked shells due to the mother's poor diet (and probably her age, geez, 80 years??). She was fed pork and beef, not fish or crayfish. Here's hoping that next year's breeding season will be better!

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