Animals take many
shapes and forms and come in a great diversity of sizes, from microscopic to
the 30 m long blue whale! Whether you measure in terms of weight, height or
length, there is no denying some animals are huge in comparison to others in
their class.
10. Goliath Beetle
Goliath beetles are
some of the largest insects in the world both as adults and larvae. It is
thought that Goliath beetles are the heaviest of all the insects.
Larvae can weigh as much as 100 grams and
adults 50-60 grams, the adults can also reach 12 centimetres in length.
9. Chinese Giant Salamander
Heavily built
salamander. Head strongly depressed, snout obtusely truncate; nostrils small,
rounded, close to the edge of the upper lip and at the corners of the truncated
snout, the internasal space less than half of the interorbital space. Eyes
small, rounded, dorso-lateral in position, and without eyelid. Top of head more
or less flat, with a rounded temporal protuberance above and behind each eye.
Vomerine teeth in an arched series starting
between the choanae, parallel to the maxillary and premaxillary series. A thin
lower labial fold starting about midway between nostril and eye to the angle of
the mouth. Trunk less depressed than head, with about fifteen costal grooves, a
strong vertebral groove, and strong lateral dermal folds. Legs short and
flattened. Tail 59% of the body length, compressed. Dorsal tail fin extending
to the trunk. Skin rough and porous, with wrinkles, folds and tubercles.
Color of animals is dark brown, black or
greenish. Irregularly blotched and marbled with dusky spots. Total length about
100 cm, Chang (1936) quotes a maximum of 180 cm, but most animals found
nowadays are considerably smaller (Liu and Liu 1998). Specimens of 115 cm weigh
approx. 25 pounds (Liu 1950). Closely related and very similar to A. japonicus.
There are no records of geographic variation.
8. ostrich
Height: Female, 5.7
to 6.2 feet (1.7 to 1.9 meters); male, 6.9 to 9 feet (21. to 2.7 meters)
Weight: Female, 198
to 242 pounds (90 to 110 kilograms); male, 220 to 287 pounds (100 to 130
kilograms)
An ostrich’s eye is
almost 2 inches (5 centimeters) across—the largest eye of any land animal.
Weighing in at more
than 3 pounds (1,500 grams), the ostrich egg is the largest egg—in fact, the
largest single cell—found on our planet today. Only dinosaurs produced larger
eggs.
7. saltwater
crocodile
The largest living
reptile is the Saltwater Crocodile, growing to an average length of 17 ft (5.2
m), although they can reach 21 ft (6.3m) in length and weigh up to 21 US tons
(1,900 kg). They are distributed widely in brackish and fresh waters in parts
of India, Asia and Australia and feed on all animals they can get their teeth
in to, which includes sharks if they get the chance
6. whale shark
As the worlds
largest fish, the Whale Shark can reach up to 46ft in length, rivalling the
size of some whale species.
These gracious creatures are part of the
elasmobranch family, meaning that they are cartilaginous fish! Rather than a
skeleton comprising of bone, the Whale Sharks skeleton is made of tough
cartilage.
Not only are they
large, but they live long too! The Whale Shark is known to survive up to 150
years of age!
5. Brown bear
Bears are
extraordinarily intelligent animals.
They have far superior navigation skills
to humans; excellent memories; large brain to body ratio; and use tools in
various contexts from play to hunting.
Bears grieve deeply
for others. Cubs are known to moan and cry when separated from their
mothers. This can go on for weeks if
their mothers are killed by hunters.
Bears have
excellent senses of smell, sight and hearing. They can smell food, cubs, a mate
or predators from miles away. Their great eyesight allows them to detect when
fruits are ripe.
4. Giraffe
It
is a famous, gentle giant of the African savannah, but the giraffe's genetics
have just revealed that there is not one species, but four.
Giraffes have previously been recognised to be
a single species divided into several sub-species.
3. African Elephant
He largest living
land animal is the African Elephant which can weigh up to 6,350 kg (7 tons);
They typically grow to 35 ft (10.6 m) from trunk to tail and have a shoulder
height of 13 ft (4.2 m).
There are at least two species, the savanna elephant
and the forest elephant, and they currently cited as venerable in the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species.
2. Colossal Squid
The size of the
colossal squid is often exaggerated, with viral posts on the internet saying
they can reach 60 ft (18 m) or even 90 ft (27 m) in length! However, the
largest squid documented was 45 ft (14 m) long. They have the largest eyes in
the animal kingdom, reaching 10 in (25 cm) in diameter!
1. Blue Whale
The Blue Whale is
the largest animal ever to have lived on earth.
Despite being so
massive, this giant of the ocean feeds on some of the smallest marine life –
tiny shrimp like animals called krill. A single adult blue whale can consume
36,000 kg of krill a day.
Incredibly, Blue
Whales are graceful swimmers cruise the ocean at over 8km/h, and can reach
speeds of over 30km/h.
