Tortoises have extraordinary long lives, during which they have the chance to copulate, reproduce and keep their species alive.

For one fella though, called Jonathan, he never once reproduced, which mystified his keepers.

He spent most of his long life with Frederica, his female companion, though never had any children, The Times reports.

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Credit: St Helena Government via YouTube

Jonathan is believed to be the oldest living creature on the planet, at 186-years-old, which is why it's baffling that he's had no children, but it turns out he's gay.

He recently 'came out' after it was discovered that Frederica is actually a bloke, now called Frederic, and for obvious reason that's why the two never had any kids.

The pair met in 1991 when Frederic arrived as a gift for the governor of St Helena, where Jonathan had lived since the 80s. However, whoever had previously handled Frederic and whoever examined him, clearly weren't that good at their jobs.

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Here we are, 26 years later, Fred has slowly moved his way around, happily in an openly gay relationship, while everyone calls him Frederica and suggests that either him or his partner are infertile or are impotent. It's not on, really.

A recent examination revealed the tortoise's actual gender, which explained the mystery behind Jonathan not laying his seed around properly. People then labelled this as him 'coming out as gay'.

According to The Times the pair regularly mated on Sunday mornings throughout the 90s, which led their owners and vets to believe that there'd be babies soon.

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It wasn't to be, and no one thought to check if Frederica actually had a penis.

Though the 186-year-old is suffering from loss of sense of smell and cataracts in his old age, he's proven that not only is there never a time limit on confessing your sexuality, but also that he's far more mobile than Eric Dier in Tottenham's midfield last night.

Lisa Phillips, Governor of St Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha claims that he's frisky, even at his age.

I can vouch for Jonathan's friskiness.....I can hear him when I'm in the house all the way from the paddock! https://t.co/s2k4B0i4vH

- Lisa Phillips (@lisaphillips07) August 12, 2016

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She wrote on Twitter last year: "I can vouch for Jonathan's friskiness.....I can hear him when I'm in the house all the way from the paddock!"