What is the heaviest animal? Which animal is the heaviest and which is the lightest?
Everyone knows that the largest animal in history, a giant animal, lived on Earth many millions of years ago - a dinosaur. There were many types of them. And today the size of prehistoric animals seems simply stunning.
However, the modern animal world is no less amazing and diverse. The earth is full of creatures that are amazing in size and shape. It’s hard to even imagine what affected their weight and height. However, they are who they are and feel quite comfortable among people.
And yet, which animal is the largest? This is what you have to find out. What kind of creatures are these, and in what conditions do they live? So, below is the rating of the 10 largest animals on our planet. This list is based on the height, length, as well as mass of the creatures. Let's start from the end.
Saltwater crocodile
In tenth place is the saltwater crocodile. It is also called combed or spongy. This crocodile is the largest reptile in the world. An adult male can grow up to seven meters in length, weighing over a ton! Typically, most crocodiles are about five meters long. And they weigh on average eight hundred kilograms.
Saltwater crocodiles are quite widespread. Their habitat begins in Northern Australia and ends in Southeast Asia. The crocodile is an active predator. Its daily diet includes insects, mollusks, crustaceans, various small amphibians and fish. But any animal that wanders into its territory becomes a potential victim. Having watched the victim on land, the crocodile drags it under water, to where it is no longer useless to resist.
Interesting fact: saltwater crocodile is highly valued for its skin, which serves as material for handbags, shoes, clothes, etc. Therefore, this type of crocodiles is raised in artificial conditions: on special farms.
Black rhinoceros
Since black rhinoceroses are huge, powerful and absolutely fearless, they have no enemies among animals. But they are easy prey for numerous poachers. Black rhinoceroses prefer to move along the same paths, and also have very poor vision. This makes them an excellent target for trophy hunters.
Walrus
In eighth place is the walrus. This is perhaps the largest animal that has existed since the Ice Age. Thus, the fossils found in San Francisco Bay are about twenty-eight thousand years old.
Walruses are truly huge: their length reaches three meters, and their weight fluctuates around two tons! These animals have very durable and thick skin. Especially in the neck area, where it reaches ten centimeters. And under the skin there is still a layer of fat fifteen centimeters. Thanks to this, walruses thrive in harsh Arctic conditions. The diet of these animals mainly consists of shellfish, but fish is also occasionally found.
White rhinoceros
Seventh place - white rhinoceroses. They are considered the second largest herbivores on the planet. They grow up to two meters in height and four meters in length. Rhinos are heavyweights. Some large specimens reach eight tons!
Interesting fact: despite the name, these animals are gray in color. Why then is there a “white” rhinoceros and not a “gray” one? Most likely, rhinoceroses received this name due to the fact that there was a distortion of the Boer word “wijde”. It translates as “wide-faced.” And it sounds like the English word “white”.
Hippopotamus (hippopotamus)
In sixth place is the hippopotamus, an indigenous inhabitant of Africa from the artiodactyl order. Hippos grow up to one and a half meters in height and five meters in length. The weight of these mammals fluctuates around three tons, or even more. Throughout its life, the weight of the hippopotamus gradually increases. The same applies to his teeth. Old hippos' teeth can reach half a meter in size!
An interesting fact is that the hippopotamus skin alone weighs half a ton.
Southern elephant seal
Fifth place is occupied by the southern elephant seal - the largest animal on earth from the category of pinnipeds. Large and corpulent, elephant seals grow up to six meters in length. And their body weight is about five tons. The largest of the elephant seals was shot in the winter of 1913 in southern Georgia. It weighed more than five tons and reached seven meters in length.
The main diet of these animals is fish and squid, which live at depths of up to a thousand meters. In search of prey, elephant seals dive repeatedly and spend a lot of time underwater. This is how a record was recorded - the animal was under the ode for about two hours. By the way, these mammals spend most of their lives in the open ocean; they rarely come to land, usually during the breeding season.
Southern elephant seals are the largest dangerous animals. They are the largest predators in the world.
Indian elephant
The Indian elephant also has a second name - “Asian”. It would have earned the title of “the world’s largest land-dwelling animal” if not for its African counterpart. Elephants reach three and a half meters in height and about six meters in length. In addition, these animals have a fairly long tail (from a meter to two). The weight of an Indian elephant can reach five and a half tons. By the way, females are much smaller than males.
Asian elephants are forest dwellers. Most often they can be found in subtropical and tropical deciduous forests. Elephants love bamboo and bushes. They move through overgrown jungles and swampy areas with ease.
Interesting fact: Indian elephants live in packs, led by the most experienced and mature female.
African elephant
In third place in the ranking is the African elephant - the largest animal among those that live on land. Males weigh about six tons and reach eight meters in length and three in height. Females weigh half as much, and their height is no more than two to three meters.
The largest animal living on land has practically no enemies. Of course, thanks to its size. But little elephants are still attacked by bloodthirsty lions, leopards, hyenas and crocodiles.
Elephants move surprisingly fast. So, their average speed is about forty km/h. Thus, an elephant can easily outrun a human. Of course, such sizes require a lot of food: for example, one elephant can eat about three hundred kilograms of grass per day. These animals are very smart and even capable of compassion. But despite this, they are considered one of the most dangerous on the planet.
Interesting fact: due to its enormous size, the African elephant has to sleep standing up.
Sperm whale
The second place is occupied by the sperm whale. Today it is the largest animal on earth from the suborder of toothed whales, as well as the only remaining member of the sperm whale family. Huge male sperm whales reach twenty meters in length and weigh fifty tons! But female representatives are much smaller: up to eleven meters in length, weighing fifteen tons. Of course, you can find larger sperm whales, but this is an exception.
In nature, adult male sperm whales have no enemies. And for cubs and females, only killer whales pose a threat.
Interesting fact: thirty-five percent of the sperm whale's entire body is made up of the head alone.
Blue whale
So, the largest animal (photo in the article) is the blue whale. Other names are blue, or vomit. Belongs to marine mammals. There are three species of these giants in the world - southern, northern and dwarf whales. They practically do not differ in external features and sizes. Sometimes scientists identify a fourth species - the Indian whale. Northern and southern blue whales live in cold circumpolar waters, while the pygmy whale lives in tropical seas. All subspecies lead almost the same lifestyle. They usually swim alone, sometimes in pairs. You can also find small groups, but even in them, each of the whales stays separately.
The blue whale is the largest animal in the world that has ever existed and known to science. Even dinosaurs are not able to compete with him - he is truly huge! So, an adult can grow up to thirty meters in length. The weight can be about one hundred and eighty tons. Yes, only one tongue of this animal weighs as much as a medium-sized Indian elephant (about three tons).
The blue whale has the largest heart in the world. It is the size of a car, and weighs about the same. Lung volume reaches three thousand liters. This allows whales to remain underwater for about half an hour without oxygen. These giants swim quite quickly (about forty km/h). You can notice them from afar by the ten-meter fountains that appear during the ascent to the surface.
The blue whale's diet consists mainly of plankton and small shrimp-like creatures. They are called "krill". Whales eat about forty million krill every day.
Largest pet
But what about our smaller brothers whom we have tamed? Among them there are also quite large individuals that one cannot help but pay attention to.
The largest breed of dog is the English Mastiff. On average, males grow up to ninety centimeters and weigh about one hundred and twenty kilograms. Bitches weigh a little less - up to about a hundred kilograms. These dogs are aristocrats. They are loved not only for their power, but also for their balance, courage, and peacefulness. The English Mastiff will make both an excellent watchdog and a cheerful companion dog.
The largest animal of this breed in the world is an English mastiff named Aikama Zorbo. He was included in the Guinness Book of Records due to his weight of more than one hundred and fifty kilograms.
The largest breed of domestic cat is the Asherah. It reaches a meter in length and weighs about fifteen kilograms.
This is an exotic hybrid cat that looks like a small leopard. This species was bred in 2006. To create the Ashera, the genes of the African serval, Asian leopard and ordinary domestic cats were mixed. The animal got its name thanks to the pagan goddess Asherah.
This cat is not only the largest, but also the most expensive. So, an Ashera kitten costs more than twenty thousand dollars. However, this does not at all confuse those who want to get such a pet; they queue up in advance. This cat is a rarity, as the company raises only one hundred animals a year.
Asherah is somewhat reminiscent of a small sphinx. She is the perfect pet. Considered hypoallergenic, she loves to play with children, rub against their feet and, of course, sleep. And she’s absolutely not picky about food. Ashera is the only cat you can walk with on a leash.
The world's largest rabbit is the Belgian Flanders. This is a very ancient Flemish breed, bred in the sixteenth century (Ghent, Belgium). These rabbits can weigh about thirty pounds (thirteen kilograms) and be the size of a large dog.
24.03.2013
Do you know which ones are the most big animals on earth? Then you can view this top 10 and find out which one is the best big animal, although this list contains various species, both terrestrial and underwater inhabitants, birds, etc. But they are all huge in relation to the animals we see every day.
10. Giant green anaconda
The largest and heaviest snake in the world. Belongs to the subfamily of boas. The largest recorded individual reached 11.43 m in length. Weighs about 60 kg. It has a grayish-green color with brown spots. It lives mainly in the tropical zone of South America. Loves water and very rarely leaves bodies of water. It differs in that it can swim and dive superbly. It feeds on rodents, young crocodiles, birds and turtles. It very rarely attacks large animals, and attacks humans only in case of self-defense. It strangles the victim and swallows it.
9. Southern Elephant Seal
One of the largest animals on earth and the largest seal species in the world. The largest recorded specimens reached 6.5 m and 3.5 tons. But its trunk is shorter than that of its relatives - only 10 cm. The total number is about 750 thousand individuals. Colonies of the southern elephant seal are located on the subantarctic archipelagos and islands: South Georgia, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie.
8. African ostrich
The largest bird in the world. Its height reaches 250 cm, weight up to 150 kg. It cannot fly, but it runs at speeds of up to 70 km/h, taking steps of 3.5-4 m. If necessary, it can abruptly change the direction of movement without changing speed. Contrary to popular belief, it does not hide its head in the sand, but can “drop” it on the ground from fatigue after a long run.
7. Saltwater crocodile
The saltwater crocodile is the largest of the crocodiles. Body length is up to 7 m in males, up to 3 m in females. Adult males can gain weight up to 1000 kg. Most often found on the shores of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. But it also makes its way to other popular resorts. Capable of making long voyages on the open sea. It is extremely dangerous on the shore or in shallow water, where it is easy for it to sneak up on prey. Every year many people become its victims.
6. Polar bear
Other names: polar, northern, sea bear, oshkuy. It can reach 3 m in length and 1000 kg of body weight. The largest representatives are found in the Bering Sea. It differs from other bears by its flat head and long neck. Hunts seals, bearded seals, walruses, and fish. A very thick layer of subcutaneous fat and thick fur help it survive in cold and icy water.
5. Giraffe
The tallest animal. Lives in the savannas of Africa. Height up to 6 m, body weight up to 1,200 kg. Despite its unusually long neck, like other mammals, it has only seven cervical vertebrae. But he has a very strong heart, capable of passing 60 liters of blood per minute and creating a pressure three times greater than that of a person. Consumes about 30 kg of plant food daily. The color of a giraffe is unique, like human fingerprints.
4. White rhinoceros
Second in size big animal land after the elephant. Body length up to 4.2 m, weight up to 5 tons, height at the shoulders up to 2 m. Actually, it is not white at all, but dark gray. The name most likely came from a corruption of the Boer word wijde (wide, wide-faced), consonant with the English white (white). He has two horns, which he successfully uses in fights with rivals. Lives in South and North-West Africa. Feeds on herbaceous vegetation.
3. Hippopotamus
Belongs to the order Artiodactyla, suborder Porciniformes. Distributed on the African continent. Weight can reach 4 tons, length up to 5.4 m. Leads a predominantly semi-aquatic lifestyle. The mouth of a hippopotamus can open unusually wide – 150 degrees. Interestingly, the hippopotamus is capable of running very fast on land. Quite an aggressive animal. When provoked by a person, it is capable of unexpectedly attacking.
2. African elephant
Mammal of the proboscis order. Height at the shoulders is up to 4 m, weight - 7.5 tons. Habitat - Africa south of the Sahara. Includes two modern species - savannah elephant and forest elephant. More than their Indian relatives and the most big animal among the land ones. There are only 500-600 thousand of these giants left in nature. An unusually intelligent animal, capable of mutual assistance and mutual assistance. For example, if one elephant cannot get rid of an attached leech, another can take a stick and free his friend from the bloodsucker. The same applies to.
1. Blue whale
For four of the five heaviest animal species, the main habitat is water. The aquatic environment reduces the force of gravity, gives room for movement, and provides nutrition for a huge organism.
However, all heavyweight champions trace their origins to land-based ancestors.
Fifth place - southern elephant seal
The fifth place among the heaviest representatives of the planet is occupied by the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) - a pinniped sea predator, a mammal from the seal family. The population lives off the coast of Antarctica. An adult male weighs on average 2-4 tons, the weight of the largest elephant seal reached 5 tons. The females of this type of seal are noticeably different from the stronger sex - they are miniature, weighing only 900 kg.
Elephant seals spend the lion's share of their lives in the water; they come ashore only in the spring - during the period of molting and mating. Male fights take place in the rookeries: tons of fat are knocked together and bones crack to the sounds of a threatening roar. Elephant seal calves are born weighing half a quintal, and after a month their weight triples. Mothers leave the young and go to sea to feed. Elephant seals learn to survive on their own; almost 80% of the young become prey for white sharks and killer whales.
Third place - African elephant
The African elephant is the heaviest mammal living outside water bodies. The mass of elephants in the savannahs of Africa is 7.5 tons, and the largest specimen weighed over 12 tons (elephants of the Indian jungle weigh only 5.4 tons). How the African elephant differs from the Indian elephant is described in our article. Elephants eat most of their lives - 15-20 hours a day; per day they absorb up to 300-450 kg of plant food and drink 100-300 liters of water.
Instructions
Blue whale. The blue (or blue) whale is the largest, and therefore the heaviest animal on Earth. Currently, the officially recorded maximum weight of this giant is 195 tons, but scientists claim that some species weigh more than 200 tons! These whales reach a length of 35 meters. Scientists have also recorded the weight of some of the organs of these sea heavyweights. For example, the tongue of one captured female blue whale weighed 4.22 tons, and the heart - 698.5 kilograms. The babies of these giants are the largest babies in the world. It is curious that from the first days of life, baby whales weigh about 3 tons, reaching 7 meters in length.
The speed with which blue whales grow and develop is also amazing. During the first year of a two-ton whale's life, its weight increases 30 million times! This is considered the highest growth rate worldwide. The blue whale is not only the heaviest and largest on Earth, but also the loudest. The sounds he makes during his communication can be heard even 850 kilometers away. If you compare the blue whale with the largest land animal - the African elephant, it becomes clear that the first weighs exactly 20 times more than the second! Surprisingly, these sea giants feed on tiny organisms: crustaceans and plankton.
Shrews. Shrews are recognized as the smallest animals and the lightest. But not all of them, of course, but only two species: the tiny shrew and the pygmy shrew (Etruscan shrew). Shrews are small mammals that resemble mice in appearance. In fact, they are relatives of hedgehogs, muskrats and moles. This is understandable: shrews are not rodents, but insectivorous animals, included in the same class of the same name with all of the above “relatives”. The tiny shrew is the smallest and lightest animal that lives in Russia and Transbaikalia. This baby weighs only 2 grams, and the length of its body is up to 5 centimeters.
The lightest and smallest creature on Earth is another shrew - the pygmy shrew. Its weight is no more than 2 grams, and its body length is about 3 centimeters! Due to their small size, these babies require a lot of energy, and therefore a lot of food. They feed disproportionately to their weight and cannot remain without food for more than 2 hours. The diet of the lightest vertebrates in the world consists of invertebrate animals and plant foods. It is worth noting that not all shrews are the smallest animals on the planet. Among them there are also quite large species. For example, the world's largest shrew is considered to be the giant shrew. Her body weight is 100 grams, and her body length is 18 centimeters.
Empirical animal
The fauna of planet Earth is amazing and diverse. It contains both real giants, like the blue whale, and almost microscopic animals, which you won’t always be able to see (especially if they don’t want to).
Once upon a time, scientists empirically calculated that an animal whose weight was less than two and a half to three grams could not exist on earth - otherwise its tiny body simply would not be able to function fully, being “crushed” by the force of gravity present on the planet. However, such a coherent theory several decades ago crashed into practice, namely, into several amazing discoveries of new (for humanity, which had never suspected such a thing) representatives of the fauna.
Pygmy shrew
Thus, scientists discovered a tiny creature, which received the Latin name Suncus etruscus. In a non-scientific way, this extremely small animal has different names: Etruscan shrew, dwarf shrew, little shrew, etc. Only by the fact that it is a very light animal, and does not differ in any large dimensions, can this fact be explained that biologists remained unaware of its existence until the twentieth century.
Meanwhile, this representative of the genus of shrews, whose weight does not exceed 1.5-1.7 grams, and reaches only 3-4.5 centimeters in length (plus the tail, which is usually about 3.5 cm), lives in many locations Eurasia and northern Africa. You can meet it in the south of Europe (closer to the coasts of the Ionian, Adriatic and Aegean seas), and in the southern part of the Celestial Empire, and in Japan, and in Taiwan, and the Philippines, and in quite a number of other places in those latitudes. The “houses” of Etruscan shrews are all kinds of crevices, crevices (in rocks, abandoned buildings, etc.) and voids (including in tree trunks).
Appearance of the shrew
Outwardly, such an animal looks quite attractive. It has a very slender, elongated and very nimble body (covered with short brown fur, which is lighter on the belly), which turns into a thin proboscis at the nasal part of the head.
Despite its tiny size, the dwarf shrew is quite voracious (as are all shrews). She eats food per day that weighs two to three times her own size.
Finding it even if you want is very difficult. The point is not even in the microscopic length and weight of the body, but in the nocturnal lifestyle that such an animal prefers. By the way, this rodent should not be considered a priori an agricultural pest. Quite the opposite - it brings undoubted benefits to this industry in its habitats, since it destroys all kinds of insect pests.
Tiny pig-nosed bat
However, the Etruscan shrew is not the only lightest animal on earth. This title is shared with another tiny creature - the pig-nosed bat. It was discovered only four decades ago in Thailand, and its range is very limited to some locations in this country, plus here and there in neighboring Myanmar.
This representative of the bat class received his nickname for the unusual shape of his nose, somewhat reminiscent of a pig’s snout. In general, the animal differs little from other bats - the same shaggy body covered with brownish fur, ears with a large tragus, and membranous wings. The weight of this creature is - in adulthood - no more than one and a half to two grams, and the length of the body is 2.9-3.4 cm.
The nocturnal lifestyle and love of solitude do not allow one to get to know this “bumblebee mouse” better. However, experts have found out one thing for sure: the size of its population now hardly exceeds half a thousand. This made it possible to include such a rare creature in the Red Book as vulnerable.
It seems that the era of great discoveries - at least in biology - is not yet over. Perhaps the above animals will not remain in the rank of the lightest animals on earth for long, and soon scientists will discover much smaller creatures.