Let's take a look at the giants that still roam the Earth.

15. Giant flying fox ≈ 1.5 kg

The largest bat on Earth. These bats live in the Philippines. The body size of a fox is about 55 cm, weight is 1.5 kg, but the wingspan is very solid - up to 1.8 meters.

14. Belgian flandre giant - up to 25 kg

A domesticated form of a hare (rabbit). The main selection was carried out in the meat-skin direction, which left an imprint on its size. This is the largest breed of rabbits. Their average weight is 10-12 kg, the maximum recorded is 25 kg.

13. Chinese giant salamander ≈ 70 kg

The largest amphibian on earth. The length of the salamander reaches 180 cm. These amazing creatures live in China, where their meat is revered as a delicacy, so few salamanders grow to their maximum size.

12. Capybara ≈ 105 kg

The largest rodent on earth. These cute animals live in South America. Adult capybaras grow up to 1.5 meters in length, and in weight they can gain up to 105 kg. By the way, these rodents are happy to live next to a person.

11. Giant green anaconda ≈ 250 kg

This close relative of the python, on Earth. It lives in the tropics of South America. The maximum recorded body length is more than 7.5 meters, and the weight is 250 kilograms. The Asian python surpasses the anaconda in length, which is 9.7 meters, but loses in weight.

10. Polar bear ≈ 500 kg

To find the largest bear in the world you need to go to the Arctic. There, among the snow and ice, majestic polar bears live - a living embodiment of the formidable forces of nature.

The Inuit call polar bears "nanook", which means "respected".

At birth, a newborn polar bear cub weighs only 700 grams. And the milk that he eats is superior in fat content to the milk of other types of bears. Two months after birth, the bear cub weighs 10 kg.

Until a year and a half, a caring mother accompanies him everywhere. And at the age of two, when many human children still have difficulty walking and soiling diapers, a young polar bear is already gaining its normal weight and is able to bully a bearded seal, ringed seal, or even a person if he is not careful enough.

Even for the world's largest bear, finding food can be a challenge. Less than two percent of polar bear hunts are successful, so half of their lives are spent looking for food.

9. Salted crocodile ≈ 590 kg

Most of the largest animals are not peaceful in nature. But even among them, combed crocodiles stand out for their aggressiveness and bloodthirstiness. even got into the Guinness Book of Records for the fact that, together with relatives, he ate a thousand Japanese soldiers during World War II.

But it is unlikely that combed crocodiles can be counted among the allies, because they would have just as much enjoyed eating Russian, American and any other soldiers.

8. Giraffe ≈ 800 kg

Among the largest animals in the world, giraffes immediately stand out with their long necks. Thanks to her, they are the tallest land creatures on the planet. The neck is 1/3 the length of the animal's body and, at the same time, consists of only seven cervical vertebrae, like in most other mammals.

About giraffes, we can safely say that they have a big heart. It weighs 12 kilograms, and creates pressure that would terrify any hypertensive patient. What the body will not do so that the blood can reach the brain.

Giraffes are also famous for their long tongues. Only they need it not for gossip, but in order to eat leaves from the highest trees in the African savannah. In length, this organ reaches as much as 45 centimeters.

7. Hippo ≈ up to 4.5 tons

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the third largest land animal in the world. But hippos don't really like to walk on the ground. They are semi-aquatic mammals, meaning they spend most of their day in rivers and lakes. This is how they keep their hairless body moisturized under the scorching African sun. If the hippopotamus does not have the opportunity to plunge into cool water, its skin cracks.

Female hippopotamuses began to give birth under water long before it became a fashionable trend in the human world. By the way, hippos are one of the few mammals whose cubs can suck their mother's milk while underwater.

In most European languages, the hippopotamus is called the "hippo." This word came from the Latin language (and there, in turn, from Greek) and in translation means “river horse”. Of course, this massive creature cannot be compared with, but in the water it is very fast and agile.

6. Southern elephant seal ≈ 2.2 tons

Among the largest animals of our planet, there are two elephants at once, and one of them is terrestrial, and the second is marine.

This seal got its name for a leather bag on its nose, which, during anxiety or during mating fights, swells up, turning into a large ball.

5. White rhino ≈ 2.3 tons

The old joke about the rhinoceros is that it has poor eyesight, but at such a large size, this is no longer its problem. Indeed, these giants do not particularly rely on sight. And even hearing plays a secondary role. But the sense of smell in white rhinos is very well developed. So don't approach it from the windward side.

By the way, unlike their small counterparts, black rhinos, whites usually run away when they see a person. But Black is attacking.

Due to the uncontrolled extermination of white rhinos, the northern subspecies has disappeared. This happened quite recently, in 2018, when the last male named Sudan died. So now we can only admire the photo of these largest animals in the world.

But the southern population still exists. But the question is: for how long?

4. African bush elephant ≈ 7 tons

Before you is a seven-ton answer to the question of what is the largest animal among terrestrial creatures. Due to its size and body weight, the elephant got into the Guinness Book of Records as the largest land mammal. Among the savannah elephants there are also their own heavyweights. So, in Angola in 1974, an elephant weighing 12.2 tons was shot dead.

Like their smaller counterparts, African elephants can use their trunks (which have over 40,000 muscles) to lift anything up to 180kg. Unfortunately, the largest land animal does not boast the largest population. 25,000 elephants die each year due to poaching.

3. Great whale shark ≈ 20 tons

It seems strange that - this is not the most terrible representative of the shark species. She doesn't even hunt whales, contrary to her name. Unlike most of its predatory counterparts, the great whale shark is content with plankton for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This sea giant does not swim very fast, and almost does not pay attention to people swimming nearby. This allows divers to ride on the back of a whale shark if they wish.

In videos of the world's largest animals, you can often see people swimming with whale sharks.

2. Sperm whale ≈ 40 tons

One of the best ways to recognize a sperm whale in the ocean is by its massive head. Sperm whales have the largest brain of all living creatures on Earth, it weighs up to 7.8 kg.

However, the fact that their heads are filled with spermaceti makes the biology of these creatures so fascinating. It is the spermaceti sac that accounts for 90% of the weight of the sperm whale's head.

Scientists suggest that it is spermaceti that helps these huge toothed whales dive and emerge from the depths. There must be something that keeps all 40 tons of sperm whale afloat!

1. Blue whale ≈ 150 tons

The largest animal on Earth is a majestic, carnivorous sea creature that weighs a whopping 150 tons and measures 33 meters in length. And this is still on average, since the whalers met both 180-ton and even 190-ton whales.

The heart of a blue whale is one and a half meters in size, weighs about 180 kilograms, and its aorta is wide enough for a baby to swim through it.

However, despite their gigantic size, blue whales are not dangerous to humans. They do not attack swimmers and feed on krill, small crustaceans, cephalopods and fish.

But a man for a blue whale is the most dangerous opponent. Due to active whaling and severe pollution of the seas, the largest animal in the world almost disappeared. In 1693, only 5 thousand individuals remained. And although now the population of the blue whale has grown to 10 thousand individuals, it is still on the verge of extinction.

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.

This is a MUSHROOM, or rather, a dark mycelium (Armillaria ostoyae), which develops in the Malur Forest Reserve in the US state of Oregon. The mycelium of this living creature covers an area of ​​​​more than 880 hectares, and its age is estimated at 2.4 thousand years.

The largest living organism on the planet is sometimes called the Oregon monster or the monster mushroom, and not at all because of its gigantic size. The fact is that a giant mycelium, entangling the roots of trees, causes the death of the latter. And already many of the trees in the reserve have become victims of a huge mycelium. By the way, it was thanks to the mass death of trees that the giant was able to be calculated.

Attracted by the history of tree death, biologists in 1998 were able to determine that the mushroom mycelium from Oregon is not separate clusters growing throughout the forest, but a giant integral living organism.

Previously, the largest living creature in the world was considered the mycelium of the dark mushroom, which grows in the state of Washington. Its size was estimated at 600 hectares.

It is possible that there are larger myceliums on our planet, the existence of which is still unknown to scientists.

And here is the story of its discovery:

This find was reported in the current issue of the Canadian journal Forest Research. "The fact that an organism like this has been growing in a forest for thousands of years really expands our view of the forest ecosystem and how it works," said Dr. Katherine Parks, a pathologist at the US Department of Agriculture who led the study.

The researchers discovered this giant mushroom in the Malheur National Park, which covers an area of ​​590,000 hectares and consists of highland fields, pine forests and mountain lakes. This area lies at an altitude of 1200-2750 meters above sea level.

A single organism of such a large size has led to new insights into the role of fungi in forest ecology. It used to be believed that mushrooms like honey agaric grew in groups within the forest, visible from the air as ring zones of dead trees.

But when the researchers collected mushroom samples from an area of ​​9.65 square kilometers throughout the Oregon forest, during the course of the test it turned out that these were samples of the same mushroom. Scientists have estimated its age in the range from 2000 to 8500 years.

"It's a single organism that started out as a microscopic spore and then spread like a plant," Parks said. “If we could remove all the soil and look at what was left, then we would see only one large pile of a single fungus with all its mycelium filaments that penetrate all the soil below the surface.”

Researchers now believe that the fungus is part of a natural cycle of tree renewal and decline within forests and that it is often present in areas with little tree damage.

Our forestry should also think about this problem, since honey mushrooms grow throughout our strip of Russia. Apparently, the principle of distribution of all mushrooms is the same, regardless of their species and habitat. So, when we go to the forest and collect mushrooms, perhaps we put the fruiting bodies of the same mushroom in our basket.

And here are some more options:

"Pando" is a clonal colony of aspen poplar (USA, Utah). As scientists have established, 47 thousand stems come from one once living poplar. All 47 thousand stems have a single root system and can be called a single organism, the mass of which is 6 thousand tons. The age of "Pando" is 80 thousand years (according to some estimates - up to a million years), which makes it one of the main candidates for the title of the longest-lived organism on the planet.

Clonal colony- This is a group of genetically identical individuals (plants, fungi, bacteria) that grew up in one place, multiplied vegetatively, and not sexually. In plants, an individual of such a population is called a ramet. In fungi, individuals develop from a common mycelium hidden in the soil. Clonal colonies are common in many plant species. Although some of them reproduce sexually through seeds, reproduction can be carried out in some cases through underground stolons and rhizomes. Above ground, these plants appear to be separate individuals, so clonal colonies are not always easy to recognize.

Pando is assumed to have grown under ideal conditions for most of its life: frequent fires prevented its main competitor, conifers, from colonizing, and climate change from humid to semi-arid prevented the spread of seedlings and the attendant competition from young poplars.

During strong fires, the organism survived thanks to the root system, throwing out new shoots on the ashes. Due to its age, Pando was born in a climate very different from today, and probably last bloomed about ten millennia ago, according to an OECD report:

Clonal groups of P. tremuloides are quite common in eastern North America, but usually occupy no more than 0.1 ha, while groups as large as 80 ha have been observed in Utah (Kemperman and Barnes 1976). According to some claims, seedlings have not spread in the western United States since the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago (Einspahr and Winton 1976, McDonough 1985). In fact, some biologists believe that Western clones may be as old as 1 million years (Barnes 1966, 1975). A single clone, nicknamed "Pando" (Latin for "I spread"), has been claimed to cover 43 hectares, contain over 47,000 shoots and weigh over 6 million kg, being the largest organism known (Grant et al. 1992, Mitton and Grant 1996) .

The clone covers 43 hectares (107 acres) and has about 47,000 trunks that die and renew themselves from its roots. The trunks are connected to each other by the root system. The average age of a Pando trunk (or more accurately, a shoot) is 130 years old, as revealed by tree rings.

<…>Compared with Pando, the most widely accepted estimate of 80,000 years, according to the most accepted anthropological view, Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Eurasia and Oceania only 40,000 years ago, and to America 10,000 years ago.

Another candidate for the title of the longest-lived and largest clonal organism on Earth is a colony of oceanic Posidonia south of the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea. Clonal colony of oceanic Posidonia 8 km in size. in diameter can be up to 100 thousand years old.

sources

http://www.nat-geo.ru/fact/41372-gigant-iz-oregona/

http://newsland.com/news/detail/id/1101406/

http://www.wolfnight.ru/forum/forum_theme.php?theme=1654&page=1

http://www.factroom.ru/facts/1461

 Something else BIGGEST for you: here, and here The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

Instruction

The extinct dinosaur Amphicelia is described from a fragment of a single dilapidated vertebra, so its size and the very existence of this dinosaur are in doubt. According to calculations, its length ranged from 40 to 62 meters, and its weight was up to 155 tons. Scientific: kingdom - animals, type - chordates, - reptiles, - lizards, infraorder - sauropods, family - diplopoids, genus - amphicoelias.

The blue whale is a marine modern animal, the length of which reaches 33 meters, and the mass can exceed 150 tons. Scientific classification: domain - eukaryotes, kingdom - animals, type - chordates, class - mammals, order -, family - minke whales, genus - minke whales, species - blue whale. It feeds on plankton filtered through a lamellar whalebone: the food is based on krill, less often larger crustaceans, small slave and. There are four subspecies of the blue whale - northern, southern, pygmy and Indian. They differ slightly in size and latitude. The blue whale is found throughout the world's oceans. Whales rarely gather in small groups, single individuals are more common. By 1960, thanks to whaling, the blue whale was on the verge of extinction. To date, their total number does not exceed 10,000 individuals. In the blue whale, females are much larger than males, it is believed that whales (vomited) were previously larger than modern individuals. Their eyesight and sense of smell are poor. Hearing and touch are well developed. The weight of the tongue is 4 tons, and the size of the pharynx is only 10 cm in diameter. The volume of the lungs exceeds 3 thousand liters. Large individuals have a blood volume of over 8 thousand liters. The heart of the blue whale is the largest in the entire animal kingdom and its weight is about one ton, and its pulse is 5-10 beats per minute. Females give birth once every 2 years, and the pregnancy lasts 11 months. However, population growth cannot compensate for its decline. A born baby weighs about 2-3 tons and reaches a length of 6-8 meters. The cub feeds on mother's milk for 7 months and grows up to 16 meters during this period. Whales reach physical maturity by the age of 15, and live up to 80-90 years.

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 runs very quickly 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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