Giant Animals

Meet the largest animal known to have ever existed. The Blue whale has a long and slender body reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 tonnes (196 long tons; 219 short tons). Despite their size, the only known natural threat to Blue whales is the orca. Blue whales are usually solitary but may spend time in pairs. They may go on long migrations, traveling to their summer feeding grounds towards the poles ...
and then heading to their winter breeding grounds in more equatorial waters. Blue whales are filter feeders and eat almost exclusively krill. Blue whales swim towards them at high speeds as they open their mouths up to 80°. They may engulf 220 metric tons (220 long tons; 240 short tons) of water at one time! They squeeze the water out through their baleen plates with pressure from the throat pouch and tongue and swallow the remaining krill. These giants have been recorded making 180° rolls during lunge-feeding, possibly allowing them to search the prey field and find the densest patches. Less

The Sperm whale or also known as cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. Mature males of this species average 16 meters (52 ft) in length but some may reach 20.7 meters (68 ft). It weighs up to 80 tonnes (79 long tons; 88 short tons). The Sperm whale is the third deepest diving mammal, plunging to 2,250 meters (7,382 ft). This giant also has the largest brain on Earth, more than five times heavier than a ...
human's. Less

Elephants are the largest living terrestrial animals. Among three living species, African bush elephants are the largest, with males being 304-336 cm (10-11 ft) tall at the shoulder with a body mass of 5.2-6.9 t (5.7-7.6 short tons). The most prominent body part of these giants are their trunks; it is a prehensile elongation of the upper lip and nose. This highly sensitive organ is thought to be manipulated by about 40,000-60,000 muscles! ...
Because of this muscular structure, the trunk is so strong that elephants can use it for lifting about 3% of their own body weight. They use it for smelling, touching, feeding, drinking, dusting, sound production, loading, defending, and attacking. Less

Giraffes are the tallest living terrestrial animals and the largest ruminants on Earth. Fully grown adult giraffes stand 4.3-5.7 m (14.1-18.7 ft) tall, with males taller than females. With their lanky build and spotted coat, giraffes have been a source of fascination throughout human history and their image is widespread in culture. They gave represented flexibility, far-sightedness, femininity, fragility, passivity, grace, beauty, and the ...
continent of Africa itself. Less

The White rhinoceros is the largest of the five living species of rhinoceros. By mean body mass, the White rhino falls behind only the three extant species of elephant as the largest land animal and terrestrial mammal alive today. The head and body length of adult individuals is 3.4 to 4 m (11.2 to 13.1 ft) and the shoulder height is 170 to 186 cm (5.58 to 6.10 ft) in males. White rhinos have a distinctive broad, straight mouth which is used for ...
grazing. Their ears can move independently to pick up sounds, but rhinos depend most of all on their sense of smell. The olfactory passages that are responsible for smell are larger than their entire brain. White rhinoceros also have the widest set of nostrils of any land-based animal. Less

Hippos are megaherbivores and are exceeded in size among land animals only by elephants and some rhinoceros species. The mean adult weight is around 1,480 kg (3,260 lb) for males and 1,365 kg (3,010 lb) for females. Male hippos even continue growing throughout their lives, while females reach maximum weight at around age 25. These giants are 3.3-3.45 m (10.8-11.3 ft) long and on average stand as high as 1.4 m (4.6 ft) at the shoulder. Though ...
they are bulky animals, hippos can gallop at 30 km/h (19 mph) on land, but they normally trot. Despite being semiaquatic and having webbed feet, adult hippos are not good swimmers, and they can’t float. They are rarely found in deep water but when they are, they move by porpoise-like leaps off the bottom. Hippos sleep with both hemispheres of the brain resting, as in all land mammals. Despite this, they are able to sleep while submerged, intermittently surfacing to breathe seemingly without waking. Less

Ostriches are notable for being the largest and heaviest living birds and lay the largest eggs of any living land animal. Common ostriches usually weigh from 63 to 145 kilograms (139 to 320 lb), or as much as one to two adult humans. The long neck and legs keep their head up to 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) above the ground. Common ostriches can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. In much of their habitat, temperatures vary as much as 40 °C (70 °F) ...
between night and day. Their temperature control relies in part on behavioral thermoregulation. For example, they use their wings to cover the naked skin of the upper legs and flanks to conserve heat or leave these areas bare to release heat. The wings also function as stabilizers to give better maneuverability when running. Ostriches actively use their wings in rapid braking, turning, and zigzag maneuvers. They have 50-60 tail feathers, and their wings have 16 primary, four alular, and 20-23 secondary feathers. Less

Elephant seals are very large, oceangoing earless seals. Both species, the Northern elephant seal and the Southern elephant seal were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered. They are the largest extant carnivorans, weighing up to 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb). The bull Southern elephant seals are, on average, larger than those in the northern species, but the females in both ...
are around the same size. Elephant seals derive their name from their great size and from the male's large proboscis, which is used in making extraordinarily loud roaring noises, especially during the mating competition. Elephant seals spend most of their lives in the ocean. They can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes - longer than any other noncetacean mammal! The average depth of their dives is about 300 to 600 m (1,000 to 2,000 ft), typically for around 20 minutes for females and 60 minutes for males while they are searching for their favorite foods. Elephant seals spend only 2-3 minutes at the surface to rest between dives and females usually dive a bit deeper due to their prey source. Less

The Dromedary camel is the tallest of the three species of camel. Adult males range in height between 1.8 and 2 m (5.9 and 6.6 ft) at the shoulder while females - are between 1.7 and 1.9 m (5.6 and 6.2 ft). The males of this species have a soft palate (dulaa in Arabic) nearly 18 cm (7.1 in) long, which it inflates to produce a deep pink sac. The palate, which is often mistaken for the tongue, dangles from one side of the mouth and in fact, is ...
used to attract females during the mating season. Less

The gaur is the largest extant bovid. It is strong and massive having a head-and-body length of 250 to 330 cm (8 ft 2 in to 10 ft 10 in) and is 142 to 220 cm (56 to 87 in) high at the shoulder. In some regions in India where human disturbance is minor, gaur are very timid and shy despite their great size and power. When alarmed, they crash into the jungle at a surprising speed. However, in Southeast Asia and South India, where they are used to ...
the presence of humans, gaur are said by locals to be very bold and aggressive. In India, the gaur is the state animal of Goa and Bihar. Less

The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile and crocodilian in the world. Males grow to a length of up to 6 m (20 ft) and weight of 1,000-1,300 kg (2,200-2,900 lb). Adult females are typically much smaller and measure from 2.7 to 3.1 m (8 ft 10 in to 10 ft 2 in) in total length and weigh 76 to 103 kg (168 to 227 lb). While crocodilian brains are much smaller than those of mammals, saltwater crocodiles are capable of learning difficult ...
tasks with very little conditioning; they learn to track the migratory route of their prey as the seasons change, and may even possess a deeper communication ability than currently accepted. Less

The Polar bear is the largest extant bear species, as well as the largest extant land carnivore. Adult males weigh 350-700 kg (770-1,500 lb) and measure 2.4-3 metres (7 ft 10 in - 9 ft 10 in) in total length. Although most polar bears are born on land, Polar bears spend most of their time on the sea ice. Their scientific name means "maritime bear" and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of seals from the edge of sea ...
ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is present. Because of their dependence on the sea ice, Polar bears are classified as marine mammals. Less

The Green anaconda is the world's heaviest and one of the world's longest snakes, reaching a length of up to 5.21 m (17 ft 1 in) long. It is the largest snake native to the Americas. Green anacondas spend most of their lives in or around water and are able to reach high speeds when swimming. They usually float beneath the surface of the water with their snouts above the surface. When prey passes by or stops to drink, they strike and coil around ...
it with their body. They then constrict until they have suffocated the prey. Large anacondas can go weeks to months without food after eating a large meal, because of their low metabolism. Although many local stories and legends report the Green anaconda as a man-eater, in fact, little evidence supports any such activity. Less

The Eastern gorilla is the largest and one of the more endangered primates on the planet. Males of this species are much larger than females. A full-grown male Eastern gorilla typically weighs 140-205.5 kg (309-453 lb) and stands 1.7 m (5.6 ft) upright. These gorillas live in family groups, led by a dominant male. They are active during the daylight hours and at night build nests by folding over vegetation, usually on the ground. Eastern ...
gorillas have become extremely endangered since the 1990s mainly due to the loss of their native habitat. In some national parks, viewing these unique animals is a popular tourist attraction. Less

The Red kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos. It is the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the largest extant marsupial. Australians call the males of this species "Big Reds" as they grow up to a head-and-body length of 1.3-1.6 m (4.35.2 ft) and their tail adds a further 1.2 m (3.9 ft) to the total length. The males of this species can cover 8-9 m (26.2-29.5 ft) in one leap while reaching heights of 1.8-3 m (5.9-9.8 ft), ...
though the average is usually 1.2-1.9 m (3.9-6.2 ft). Less

The Komodo dragon is the largest extant species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 meters (10 ft), and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms (150 lb). It has a tail as long as its body, as well as about 60 frequently replaced, serrated teeth that can measure up to 2.5 cm (1 in) in length. The Komodo dragon can see objects as far away as 300 m (980 ft), but it is thought to have poor night vision. It can also distinguish colors. The ...
Komodo dragon primarily relies on its tongue to detect, taste, and smell stimuli, with the vomeronasal sense using the Jacobson's organ, rather than using the nostrils. With the help of a favorable wind and its habit of swinging its head from side to side as it walks, a Komodo dragon may be able to detect carrion from 4-9.5 km (2.5-5.9 mi) away! Less

The tiger is the largest living cat species. Generally, males vary in total length from 250 to 390 cm (98 to 154 in) and weigh between 90 and 300 kg (200 and 660 lb). Females are slightly smaller being 200 to 275 cm (79 to 108 in) in length and weighing 65 to 167 kg (143 to 368 lb). The Bengal and Siberian tigers are among the tallest cats at shoulder height. They are also ranked among the biggest cats that have ever existed reaching weights of ...
more than 300 kg (660 lb). Less

The Galápagos tortoise is the largest living species of tortoise with some individuals weighing up to 417 kg (919 lb). Males are larger than females; they weigh around 272-317 kg (600-699 lb) while females are 136-181 kg (300-399 lb). Tortoises acquire most of their moisture from the dew and sap in vegetation and can survive longer than 6 months without water. They can endure up to a year when deprived of all food and water, surviving by ...
breaking down their body fat to produce water as a byproduct. Tortoises also have very slow metabolisms. When thirsty, they may drink large quantities of water very quickly, storing it in their bladders and the "root of the neck", both of which served to make them useful water sources on ships. On arid islands, tortoises lick morning dew from boulders, and the repeated action over many generations has even formed half-sphere depressions in the rock! Less

This is one of the largest bat species in the world. The Giant golden-crowned flying fox weighs up to 1.4 kg (3.1 lb) and has the longest documented forearm length of any bat species at 215 mm (8.5 in). These flying foxes primarily eat fruits and some leaves. They forage at night and sleep during the day in tree roosts which can consist of thousands of individuals. Giant golden-crowned flying foxes cannot echolocate and thus rely on sight to ...
navigate. They likely commute long distances between their roosts and foraging grounds. For example, individuals who roosted on the island of Maripipi were documented traveling more than 12 km (7.5 mi) to access sites on another island, Biliran! Less