New snaps of a two-headed Greek tortoise called Janus have been released ahead of its 23rd birthday next month.
While many animals born with two heads tend to die at a young age, Janus is positively thriving - and could even be the oldest of its kind.
Named after the Roman god with two faces, the tortoise was born on 3 September 1997 from an egg that had been placed in an incubator at the Museum of Natural History in Geneva, Switzerland.
It has since become not only the museum's mascot, but also one of the its main attractions.
Advert
The team at the museum have credited Janus' long life to his strict routine, which includes daily baths, weekly UV sessions, a diet of lettuce and tomatoes and no sexual activity.
In new photos, Janus can be seen tucking into a healthy snack.
According to EN24 News, from Tuesday (11 August) Janus will have a brand new terrarium, as its old home became unsuitable.
Advert
While Janus is being upgraded to a new pad, another tortoise recently met a different milestone altogether.
Diego the Galápagos tortoise became world-famous for fathering hundreds, having been praised for 'saving its species from extinction'.
However, in June, it was announced that the time had come for 100-year-old Diego to retire from the Galápagos national park's breeding programme on Santa Cruz island, with Ecuador's environment minister Paulo Proaño Andrade saying it marked the 'end of an era'.
Advert
He said: "We are closing an important chapter."
Diego was one of a group of tortoises chosen to take part in a breeding programme on Santa Cruz Island, off the southwestern coast of California, back in the 1960s.
At the time, there were only two males and 12 females of the same species as Diego, the Chelonoidis hoodensis, alive on the island of Española in the Galápagos.
Advert
The lothario was living in captivity at San Diego Zoo when he was selected to take part in the breeding programme.
Since then, Diego had been breeding furiously for decades to save the species from extinction, but in June he was sent to live out the rest of his days in his native home, the uninhabited island of Española, along with 14 other male tortoises.
Park rangers said that Diego has fathered at least 40 percent of the 2,000 tortoises that live there, thanks to his high libido, and has been hailed for saving his species.
Jorge Carrion, the park's director, told AFP news agency: "He's contributed a large percentage to the lineage that we are returning to Española.
Advert
"There's a feeling of happiness to have the possibility of returning that tortoise to his natural state."
Featured Image Credit: PA