Mary the tortoise 'is actually male'

Monday, November 23 2009, 13:58 GMT
By Mayer Nissim, Entertainment Reporter

Zookepers in the US have discovered that a tortoise they thought was female for over half a century is actually male.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo spokesman Tom O'Konowitz confirmed that the creature, previously known as Mary, has now been renamed Terry, The Chronicle-Telegram reports

O'Konowitz said: "This is definitely a first for us. It came as something of a surprise to finally figure out Mary's true identity. It took us 55 years to finally say she's a boy.

"With some species like elephants, gorillas and rhinos, it's very obvious whether you're dealing with a male or female."

He added that staff had assumed the tortoise was female because it had a flat shell, short tail and was the smallest of a batch of three that arrived from Aldabra Island off the east coast of Africa in 1955.

O'Konowitz explained that large tortoises' reproductive organs are not usually visible during examinations, but in this case "became visible to the staff".

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a188210/mary-the-tortoise-is-actually-male.html

See also: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Zookeepers_get_tortoise_sex_surprise&in_article_id=775666&in_page_id=2