The largest mammals on the planet. The largest animals on earth! The tallest land animal that lived on the planet

Hundreds of thousands of species of animals of various sizes live on earth, among which there are real giants, the sizes of which, although inferior to prehistoric monsters, far exceed the sizes of those animals that we can usually see around.

1. Blue whale

The blue whale, also known as the blue whale, is the largest animal known to man on earth and in the ocean. It belongs to the baleen whales. In the last century, a specimen weighing 150 tons and 33 meters long was caught. The tongue of a blue whale alone can pull 3 tons, which is almost equal in weight to an Indian elephant! The heart of this whale is also large - 600 kg, and it is also the largest pump among all that animals have. It is about the size of a small car.
Blue whales are found not only in tropical waters, but also in polar seas. But a giant of such impressive size is very harmless, since it feeds on small fish, cephalopods and large crustaceans. Vision and taste perception in blue whales is unimportant, but their sense of touch and hearing are well developed. Blue whales are very smart and peaceful, but this does not save them from destruction because of their valuable baleen and blubber. Therefore, for a long time there has been a strict restriction on catching whales in the world, which, however, is not adhered to by some countries.

Dinosaurs belonged to vertebrate animals, they dominated for over 160 million years in all terrestrial ecosystems - on land, in water ...

2. African elephant

It belongs to the proboscis order. With a height at the withers of 4 m, it weighs up to 7.5 tons. It lives throughout the African territory south of the Sahara. There are two subspecies: small forest and large savannah. The African bush elephant is larger than the Indian elephant - it is the largest land animal. The population of African elephants is about 415,000 and continues to decline.
This smart mammal shows the ability of mutual assistance and mutual assistance. Often one elephant, armed with a stick, removes with its help a leech that has stuck to a fellow elephant. But at the same time it is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. Adult elephants, due to their size, have no natural enemies in their habitat, but baby elephants can serve as easy prey for crocodiles or lions, as well as hyenas and leopards.

3. White Rhino

The white rhinoceros is inferior in size among land animals only to the elephant: it weighs up to 5 tons, has a length of up to 4.2 m, and a height at the withers of 4.2 m. In fact, the white rhinoceros has a dark gray color. He has 2 horns on his head, which the rhinoceros uses in “showdowns” with competitors, but they almost led him to extermination. These herbivorous giants live in northwest and southern Africa.

4 Southern Elephant Seal

This largest species of seal is one of the largest terrestrial mammals. Registered specimens weighing 3.5 tons and having a length of 6.5 meters. The elephant seal has a trunk, but only about 10 cm long. In total, about 750 thousand southern elephant seals live in Antarctica. Their colonies can be found on the islands and archipelagos surrounding Antarctica: Hurd, South Georgia, Kerguelen, Macquarie. While hunting, these animals are able to dive for more than 20 minutes, to depths of 400-1000 meters, where they catch fish and squid. Recorded record stay of this beast under water for two hours.

5. Hippo

He is also a hippopotamus - an artiodactyl from the suborder of swine. This giant is distributed in Africa. With a length of 5.4 m, it can weigh up to 4 tons. It lives half in the water, although it also runs very fast along the coast. The huge mouth of the hippo can open 150 degrees. This is the most aggressive African animal that attacks if it doesn't like something.

6. Giraffe

This is the tallest and most graceful animal living in the African savannas. A giraffe weighs up to 1.2 tons with a growth of 6 meters. Although it has an incredibly long neck, it, like other mammals, has only 7 vertebrae. The giraffe has an exceptionally powerful heart, pumping 60 liters of blood per minute and creating a pressure 3 times higher than ours. A giraffe eats about 30 kg of plant food per day. Each giraffe has a unique skin pattern.

7. Polar bear

A seasoned polar bear can weigh a ton and be 3 meters long. The largest individuals live in the Bering Sea. Unlike other bears, the white one has an elongated neck and a flat head. It feeds on seals, fish, walruses, and sea hares. Under the thick, water-resistant fur, it has a thick fat layer, which makes it feel great in icy water.

Among the rest of the animal world, birds stand apart. Many of them are very beautiful, with bright plumage, they seem weightless when they soar in the air. But also w...

8 Saltwater Crocodile

The largest of modern reptiles are saltwater crocodiles, the females of which are small (only 3 m), but the males grow up to 7 m and can weigh a ton. Their habitat: Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, although they sometimes appear in other places, as they can travel considerable distances by sea. In shallow water or on the coast, the saltwater crocodile is very dangerous, because it quietly sneaks up on prey. Many people fall victim to it every year.

9. African ostrich

Now it is the largest bird in the world, weighing up to 150 kg, and 2.5 meters tall. The ostrich has long forgotten how to fly, but it runs like a champion in steps up to 4 meters, developing a serious speed of up to 70 km / h. At the same time, without reducing the speed, he can dramatically change the direction of the run. Surely many have heard of an ostrich burying its head in the sand, but these are just fairy tales: just from fatigue after running, it can drop it.

10 Giant Anaconda

This member of the boa subfamily is the heaviest and largest in the world. They say that there are anacondas 9 meters long, but such sizes have not been officially recorded, scientists tend to more realistic length figures of 6.7 meters. The anaconda has a discreet greenish-gray color with darker brown spots. It mainly lives in the South American tropics. This snake is water bound and is difficult to find far from bodies of water. She is a great swimmer and hunts underwater. It feeds on everything that comes across - birds, rodents, turtles, even young caimans. The largest specimens can attack large animals, including humans. Like all boas, the anaconda is not poisonous, and the victim is strangled and swallowed whole.

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The largest animals on earth are record holders that have reached the maximum parameters among their species in terms of mass, height or length. In this list you will find the names of the largest animals and learn a lot of interesting things about the largest animals on earth.

10. Capybara

Capybara (another name: capybara) is the largest representative of the rodent order. The word capybara in the language of the Indians means "lord of herbs." An adult capybara reaches a length of up to 135 cm, with a height at the withers of up to 60 cm. The capybara weighs up to 65 kg, females are larger than males.

9. Tiger

The tiger is the largest predator of the cat family. The largest tigers are Bengal and Amur. The size of these big cats can reach up to 3 meters in length, excluding the length of the tail. The weight of a tiger can reach up to 300 kg. The height at the withers is up to 115 cm.

Weight records are known for these species of tigers. The Bengal tiger had a maximum weight of 388 kg, while the Amur tiger had a maximum weight of 384 kg. The word tiger means "sharp" and "fast".

8. Polar bear

The polar bear (other names: polar bear, northern bear, umka) is a large predator from the Bear family. The only one of the largest land predators on the planet, which is prone to tracking down and hunting a person, considering him as an equivalent prey. A polar bear can reach a body length of 3 meters and weigh 1 ton. Height at withers up to 150 cm. Females are smaller than males.

7. Big red kangaroo

Big red kangaroo (another name: red gigantic kangaroo) is the largest kangaroo. Adult males reach a length of 1.5 meters and a body weight of 85 kg. The length of the tail is about 1 meter. Sometimes the growth of especially large males is up to 2 meters. Females are smaller than males.

6 Gorilla

Gorillas are a genus of the largest monkeys, representatives of the order Primates. In adult males, growth can reach up to 2 meters, and the width of the shoulders is 1 meter. The weight of males reaches 250 kg or more. Females are almost 2 times smaller than males.

5. Giraffe

Giraffe is a mammal from the artiodactyl order, which is the tallest animal on the planet. The length of the neck of these animals is 1/3 of the length of the entire body. The growth of the male reaches a height of up to 6 meters, and the weight is about 1000 kg. Females are somewhat smaller than males in size.

4. Hippo

The common hippopotamus, or hippopotamus, is a large terrestrial mammal from the artiodactyl order. A weight of 3 tons for this animal is not uncommon, because its mass can reach 4.5 tons. The height of the hippopotamus is up to 165 cm. The body length of an adult usually reaches 3 meters, but can be up to 5 meters.

3. White Rhino

The white rhinoceros is a huge mammal, a member of the Rhino family. Old males reach a body weight of 5 tons. Rhinos usually weigh 2-2.5 tons. Their body length is 4 meters and height is 2 meters.

2 Savanna Elephant

The bush elephant is an animal from the genus of African elephants. The bush elephant is the largest animal and the largest land mammal. The body length of these elephants reaches 7 meters, and the height is 3.5 meters. The average body weight of a word is 7 tons, but can reach up to 12 tons. Males are slightly larger than females.

1. Blue whale

The blue whale, or blue whale, is the largest animal on Earth in terms of mass and length that has ever lived. Also, the blue whale is the largest whale of all cetaceans and the largest mammal.

The size of the blue whale is quite impressive. It is not for nothing that the blue whale is currently the largest animal on Earth. These giants reach a length of 30 meters and weigh more than 150 tons. And despite such dimensions, the blue whale easily flips onto its back, which you can see in the photo below.

Females are slightly larger than males. The largest female blue whale was 33 meters long and weighed 190 tons, while the largest male had a weight of 180 tons and a body length of 31 meters.

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Planet Earth is full of amazing animals. It is inhabited by small and large, short and long, high and low. Each is unique in its own way.

But the real amazement is caused by animals of unprecedented sizes. In this article, we will look at the largest animals in the world. All of them belong to completely different species.

The heaviest animal in the world

Of the animals living on land, the African elephant is the heaviest. It ranks second in the ranking of the largest animals in the world. And it is the largest of the existing ones. Male African elephants grow up to 7.5 meters in length, up to 3.3 meters in height, and weigh about 6 tons. Females are slightly smaller, their length reaches 7 meters, height 2.7 meters, weight - less than 3 tons.

The heaviest animal is the African elephant

By the way, an adult African elephant has no natural enemies, and all because of its impressive size. However, cubs, particularly newborns, are very vulnerable to lions, crocodiles, hyenas and leopards.

The tallest animal in the world

Our TOP of the most gigantic animals in the world continues - the giraffe. It is the tallest land animal on the planet. African artiodactyl mammal grows up to 5-6 meters in height. The average weight of males is 1600 kilograms, females - 830 kilograms. The giraffe has an unusually long neck - more than 2 meters in length. Almost half of the vertical height of individuals. And this is the result of a disproportionate lengthening of the cervical spine.

The largest carnivores in the world

The largest carnivore on the planet that lives to this day is the southern elephant seal, simply a seal. The size of females and males varies significantly, and this difference is greater than that of any other mammal.

Males are 5-6 times heavier than females. The average weight of males is 2200 - 4000 kilograms, while females are only 400-900 kilograms. Length - up to three meters.

The largest carnivorous land animals

At this point in the ranking of the largest animals in the world, the Kodiak bear (a type of brown bear) and the white polar bear are located. The sizes of individuals are approximately the same, and scientists are still at a loss to answer which bear is larger.

The height of the animals starts from 1.6 meters, the total length is about 3 meters. The heaviest individuals that have been recorded weighed 1003 kilograms (polar bear) and 1135 kilograms (brown bear).

The largest reptile in the world

Such is the marine crocodile. Therefore, he was included in the list of the largest animals in the world. You can see the reptile in suitable habitats ranging from the east coast of India and Southeast Asia to Northern Australia.

The weight of an adult male reaches 1000 kilograms, while the length ranges from 4 to 5.5 meters. Mature males can grow even larger. By the way, this species of reptile is the only one of the existing ones, the size of which regularly exceeds 4.8 meters. Saltwater crocodile is a predator that attacks almost any animal in its vicinity (both in water and on land).

The largest amphibian in the world

The Chinese giant salamander is the largest amphibian in the world. Its length is at least 180 centimeters. However, today quite often the salamander does not live up to this size. The animal lives in rocky mountain lakes and streams in China.

Their numbers are declining catastrophically - due to environmental pollution, in excess of trapping (salamander meat is considered a delicacy, besides, the animal is used in Chinese traditional medicine).

The largest hare (rabbit)

The Flemish giant occupies a worthy position in the ranking of the largest animals in the world. This is an old breed of domesticated rabbit that was bred in the Flemish region. They began to breed in the 16th century near the Belgian city of Ghent.

Giant rabbit eats up the budget of its owners

Such a mutant rabbit can weigh up to 13 kilograms and is not inferior in size to a large dog.

The biggest bats in the world

Giant flying golden-crowned fox. For those who are afraid of mice - a real flying horror. Individuals grow up to 55 cm in length, the wingspan can reach 1.8 meters. The weight of a bat is about 1.5 kilograms.

It is worth noting that a simple large flying fox loses in mass and length, but wins in wing span.

The largest rodent in the world

The capybara or guinea pig is considered the largest rodent in the world. Such a miracle of nature lives in temperate or tropical parts of eastern South America and the Andes. Individuals live mainly near water.

Capybara - giant guinea pig

Adult capybaras grow up to 1.5 meters in length, up to a meter in height, and weigh about 105 kilograms. A huge guinea pig, by the way, easily gets along with a person.

The largest bony fish in the world

To meet one while swimming is to earn a shock. The ocean sunfish has a bony rather than a cartilaginous skeleton. The largest bony fish resembles the head of a fish with a tail where the main part is slightly flattened from the side.

The oceanic individual is 1.8 meters long, and from fin to fin, and even more - up to 2.5 meters. The weight of a fisherman's dream is 1000 kilograms. By the way, there were even more impressive specimens - up to 3.3 meters in length, weighing up to 2300 kilograms.

The biggest snake

Such is the green anaconda. And so it takes pride of place with the TOP of the largest animals on the planet.

The maximum size that has been recorded is 7.5 meters in length and 250 kilograms of weight. However, there are rumors about larger individuals.

The biggest bird in the world

The largest bird in the world cannot fly. The ostrich is an inhabitant of the plains of Arabia and Africa. Male individuals grow up to 2.8 meters and weigh from 150 kilograms.

An ostrich egg is worth a lot. It weighs about 1.5 kilograms and is the largest egg in the world. By the way, ostriches run at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour. And this fact makes it the fastest bird in the world and the fastest bipedal animal on the planet.

The largest living animal in the world

It is definitely a blue whale. He is a marine mammal. In length, individuals reach 30 meters, the weight of the monster is about 180 tons. And with such parameters, the blue whale can bear the proud title of "the largest animal in the world" ever living.

Only one tongue of a mammal weighs about 2.7 tons. The size can be compared with the size of the average Indian elephant. The heart of a blue whale weighs about 600 kilograms. And it is the largest in the world. In comparison, the heart is comparable to a MiniCooper in size and weight.

But animals can differ not only in physical size, but also in mental parameters. For example, among domestic animals, the smartest, no matter how surprising it may seem, are pigs.
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The mammals listed here are the largest of their kind that inhabit our planet today. In this article on the largest mammals, you will find facts and figures that put these animals at the top of the pedestal when it comes to weight and size.

The largest mammal in the order cetaceans

The blue whale is the largest animal from, as well as the largest living organism that currently lives on Earth. Blue whales can reach a mass of about 200 tons and over 30 meters in length. Blue whales produce vocalizations in excess of 180 decibels, making them one of the loudest animals on earth.

The largest mammal from the proboscis order

The African elephant is the largest mammal in the world. Male African elephants reach a mass of over 6 tons and about 4 meters at the withers.

Not only the largest of the proboscis order, they are also the leaders in mass and body size among all terrestrial creatures on the planet. The Asian elephant ranks second among the largest land animals, followed by the white rhinoceros and hippopotamus.

The largest representative of carnivores

The southern elephant seal is the largest carnivore on earth. The mass of southern elephant seals can exceed 4 tons, and the body length can reach 6 meters.

Southern elephant seals live in the icy waters of Antarctica and south of Antarctica. Other large predators include polar and brown bears, as well as Ussuri tigers.

The largest mammal of the artiodactyl order

The hippopotamus ranks first among the largest living representatives of the artiodactyl order. can weigh about 4 tons and have a body length of more than 4 meters.

In second place in terms of body weight, behind hippos from the order of artiodactyls are giraffes. They are significantly lighter than hippos, but giraffes hold the title of the tallest land mammals on Earth.

The largest mammal from the order equids

It is the largest animal from the order equids. They reach a mass of more than 4 tons and grow more than 4 meters in length.

White rhinos and hippos vie with each other for the title of the largest land animal after elephants.

The largest mammal from the Siren squad

The American manatee is the largest of the sirens. Manatees can weigh about 600 kilograms and grow up to 4.5 in length.

The largest mammal from the order Primates

The eastern gorilla is the largest primate on our planet. They reach a mass of more than 200 kilograms and grow up to 1.85 meters in height. Eastern gorillas are one of two species of gorilla. The species is endangered due to poaching and rapid habitat loss.

The largest mammal from the infraclass Marsupials

The large red kangaroo is the largest marsupial mammal. These animals can weigh about 85 kg and reach a body length of up to 1.4 meters. Male large red kangaroos are more than twice as heavy as females.

The largest mammal in the rodent order

The capybara is the largest representative of the rodents that currently inhabit our planet. Capybaras reach over 60 kg in weight and 1.35 meters in length. They are semi-aquatic animals found in most of South America, including Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Guyana, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, and Suriname. Capybaras live in dense forests that border lakes, ponds, rivers, and swamps.

The largest mammal from the order Lagomorphs

The European hare is the largest of the hare order. Their weight can be almost 7 kg, and the body length is 70 cm. The hare has long ears with black tips and coat color from yellow-brown to gray-brown.