The Largest Living Animals On Earth Part 1

When we see an ant crawling past us on the table, we would laugh at its puny size and be so proud of our own size!

But then there are many other HUGE animals out there who would laugh at our puny size as well!

Check out this list of the 10 most HUMONGOUS animals on the planet and you might wanna think again of our size!

[ Photo courtesy of http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/10... ]

Image courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

Length: ~13 meters

Weight: ~36,000 kg

Yes, this is a shark; not a whale! And since sharks are strictly fish and whale shark being the largest living shark, thus it is effectively the largest fish alive in the world!

Despite its HUGE size, the Whale Shark is harmless towards humans because it is filter feeder. This means it only feed on plankton, tiny microscopic animals and plants, and sometimes on a school of small fish. Anything bigger, it ain't interested, don't worry.

Check out on the Whale Shark in my featured lens, 15 Sharks You Gotta Know!

Image courtesy of http://environment.nationalgeographic.com

Length: ~ 5 meters

Weight: ~Half a tonne = ~500kg

The sturgeon is the common name that is used for the 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. The largest ever recorded is the Beluga sturgeon, weighing at 1,476 kg and 7.2 m in length!

Some other competitors to the "Largest Freshwater Fish" title are the Arapaima and the Mekong Giant Catfish, both recording lengths of around 3-5 meters!

Image credit: http://frogsaregreen.com/2347/giant-salamander-ear...

Length: ~1.8 meters

Weight: Up to 65kg!

The Chinese Giant Salamander is the largest salamander, as well as the largest amphibian in the world! The second largest would be the The Japanese Giant Salamander which length is recorded at around 1.5 meters.

Image courtesy of http://www.skitzone.com/2010/australian-saltwater-...

Males can reach >5 meters and >1000kg!

Scientific Name: Crocodylus porosus

This is the largest species of crocodiles and of all reptiles alive today. And it's distribution around the world is quite widespread! So watch where you're going when you're walking in the swamps!

Image courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

Scientific Name: Eunectes murinus

From Wikipedia - "Although the reticulated python is longer, the anaconda is the heaviest snake. The longest (and heaviest) scientifically recorded specimen was a female measuring 521 cm (17 ft 1 in) long and weighing 97.5 kilograms (215 lb)."

Other HUGE snakes include - Rock Python, the King Cobra and the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Image courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

Length: ~3meters

Weight: ~70kg

Scientific Name: Varanus komodoensis

The word "Dragon" in its name suits the animal perfectly, since it is the largest lizard alive today! Growing up to 3 meters, these huge creatures are only found on the Komodo Islands of Indonesia.

And do you know that their mouths are packed with millions of bacteria? Once a prey is bitten by the Dragon, the bacteria from the bite would slowly but surely kill the prey. Then, the Dragons would feast on it without the need to chase it down like the big cats.

Image courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

Height: ~3m

Weight: ~150kg

The ostrich is the largest living bird and it lays the largest egg today! Its muscular legs could enable it to run up to an amazing speed of 70 km/hour! Which means it can easily outrun a man so you better not infuriate an ostrich!

Image courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

From Wikipedia - "The African Elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal, normally reaching 6 to 7.3 metres (19.7 to 24.0 ft) in length and 3.5 to 4 metres (11.5 to 13.1 ft) in height at the head, and weighing between 6,000 to 9,000 kg (13,000 to 20,000 lb)."

Other elephants include the African Savannah Elephant and the Asian Elephant. The Asian Elephant is also featured in my featured lens, Animals of the National Zoo of Malaysia, go check it out!

Image courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

From Wikipedia - "Giant squid can grow to a tremendous size: recent estimates put the maximum size at 13 metres (43 ft) for females and 10 metres (33 ft) for males from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles"

However, there is another species of squid that is estimated to be larger than the Giant Squid. The name is the Colossal Squid. However, data about this squid is not enough. Most of the estimation comes from beaks collected from the stomach of Sperm Whales. Thus it is rather safe to say that the Giant Squid is, for now, the Largest Living Invertebrate.

Image courtesy of http://atk887.blogspot.com/2011/04/blue-whale.html

Length: ~30 meters

Weight: ~180,000 kg

The Blue Whale is simply the largest organism that has ever lived on the planet! No fossil found so far has beaten this behemoth, thus making it the largest organism of all time! What a sight to behold...

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