Millions of years ago our planet was inhabited by huge animals - dinosaurs. Today there are no such giants, however, even today there are creatures of incredible size on Earth. What is the largest animal in the world? We will try to answer this question in this article.
African Elephant
This giant is the largest and heaviest of the animals that inhabit the land. African elephants grow up to 3.3 meters in height, up to seven and a half meters in length and at the same time weigh about six thousand kilograms. Females are slightly smaller than males, their length is a little over two and a half meters, their weight is about three thousand kilograms.
It is interesting that an adult African elephant has no natural enemies, which, however, is not at all surprising, given the huge size of the animal. But for newborn elephants, lions, crocodiles, leopards and hyenas pose a serious threat.
Seal
In front of you is an elephant seal (southern) - a representative of the genus of elephant seals, a family of real seals. This is the largest representativepinnipeds on our planet. Its mass reaches 4 tons, and its body length is more than 6 meters. This largest animal in the world (carnivore) got its name from the obese body and unusual skin bag on the nose of males, which swells into a huge ball during the mating season or when the seal is alarmed.
Southern it was named in order to distinguish it from its close relative - the northern elephant seal, which lives off the California coast and is much inferior to it in size. Surprisingly, the basis of the diet of these huge animals is squid and fish that live at a depth of up to a thousand meters. In search of food, seals dive and spend a lot of time underwater. The dive record was officially registered - about two hours.
Elephant seals spend most of their lives in the waters of the ocean, quite rarely they get out on land, usually this happens during the mating season. Often at this time, males arrange real fights.
Giraffe
Answering the question of what is the largest land animal in the world, many of our readers will probably say: "Giraffe!" Indeed, no one on our planet can compare with his growth. Artiodactyl mammal grows up to six meters in height. Males weigh on average about 1600 kilograms, females are almost half that - 830 kilograms.
Even children know about the features of this animal - a long and strong neck, which is almost half of its height.
Bears
And again we return to the question of who is the largest animal in the world. Many people know that white (or polar) bears can claim this title, but there is also a kind of brown bear in the world - the Kodiak, which is not inferior in size to the northern giants. In terms of size, these animals are almost equal, so scientists have not yet come to a consensus on which of them is larger.
The height of these bears is from 1.6 to 2 meters, the length sometimes exceeds 3 meters. The largest officially recorded individuals weighed 1003 kilograms (polar bear) and 1135 kilograms (kodiak).
Giant salamander
And now let's go to Japan, where the largest animal (amphibian) lives. The giant (gigantic) salamander is listed in the World Red Book, as it is currently on the verge of extinction.
It's hard to call this creature attractive: its huge body is completely covered with mucus, its huge head is slightly flattened from above. The long tail is compressed from the sides, the legs are thick, but at the same time disproportionately short. Tiny eyes resemble beads, and they are devoid of eyelids. The body is covered with warty skin with fringes on the sides. The length of the body of this "cutie" reaches one hundred and seventy centimeters, and the weight is about thirty kilograms.
Interesting fact - this amphibian has very tasty meat, considered a delicacy. In addition, some of its organs are used in folkmedicine. Healers claim that preparations made on the basis of giant salamander meat cure gastrointestinal diseases, tuberculosis and some blood diseases.
Ocean sunfish
And now let's talk about aquatic life. This is not the largest animal in the world, but it is impossible not to mention it in our review. We are sure that if one of the diving enthusiasts meets such a fish on his way, he will certainly experience a shock.
In the ocean sunfish (Mola-Mola) the skeleton is not cartilaginous, but bony. Outwardly, it resembles a giant fish head with a tail. This amazing creature weighing up to a thousand kilograms and almost two meters long can amaze even experienced travelers who have seen many outlandish animals. The largest bony fish lives and breeds in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Often it can be seen in the waters off Iceland, Newfoundland, Norway, Britain, the Kola Peninsula.
S altwater crocodile
This giant reptile has a fairly large habitat - from the east coast of India and Southeast Asia to Northern Australia. An adult male s altwater crocodile weighs up to a thousand kilograms, and is up to 5.5 meters long. These are average values. Researchers claim that there are males over 6 meters long.
The s altwater crocodile is an active predator feeding on molluscs, insects, crustaceans, amphibians, fish and small reptiles. However, he attacks almost any animal that is on histerritory, regardless of where it is located - on land or in water.
Sperm Whale
Today, only one species of sperm whale lives on Earth. In length, they reach twenty meters and weigh almost fifty tons. With such an impressive appearance, the animal in the depths of the ocean has no enemies. The only exception may be killer whales, which sometimes attack females and their offspring.
Giant Tridacna
In front of you (pictured below) is the largest mollusk in the world. The order of animals to which it belongs is called the Veneroid. It combines bivalve molluscs from the subclass of dinotooth.
The giant tridacna, common in the Pacific Ocean, has a huge shell. Its length is more than two meters. The weight of the mollusk is 400 kilograms. An interesting fact is that zooxanthellae live in the tissues of the animal, living through photosynthesis and being food for the mollusk. Tridacna also digests part of the algae directly in the tissues, since the intestines are underdeveloped.
The edges of the huge mantle protrude between the flaps and are equipped with an optical system - small light-refracting cones that are immersed in the body of the mollusk. The shell valves are massive, thick, and uniform in shape. Like all representatives of this subclass, the clam shell does not have a mother-of-pearl layer.
The “king of mollusks” lives in the Pacific and Indian oceans, at a depth of 25 m. clamshell valvessensitive to water vibrations, so they can easily slam shut at the slightest movement near the mantle. Tridacna live for almost two centuries.
Giant clams can produce quite large pearls: Lao Tzu's largest documented pearl weighs about seven kilograms. However, this pearl has no jewelry value.
The largest animal in the world is the blue whale
This is a marine mammal up to thirty meters long and weighing about 180 tons. Such dimensions allow us to assert that the blue whale is the largest animal in the world that currently lives on our planet.
The blue whale, despite its huge size, feeds on small creatures that are very similar to shrimp. They are known as krill. The basis of the whale's diet is plankton. Due to the presence of a filtering apparatus consisting of whalebone plates, the blue whale consumes up to forty million individuals of krill daily during the summer months. The tongue of a whale weighs about two and a half tons. The heart of a blue whale weighs almost six hundred kilograms. It is recognized as the largest in the world.
