Man can consider himself the king of nature. But compared to the world's largest animals, humans are nothing more than little ones.
Let's take a look at the giants that still roam the Earth.
15. Giant flying fox ≈ 1.5 kg
The largest bats on Earth. These bats live in the Philippines. The body size of the fox is about 55 cm, weight is 1.5 kg, but the wingspan is very solid - up to 1.8 meters.
14. Belgian Flanders giant - up to 25 kg
Domesticated form of a hare (rabbit). The main selection was carried out in the meat and 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 happily live next to humans.
11. Giant green anaconda ≈ 250 kg
This close relative of python, the biggest snake on the ground. She lives in the tropics of South America. The maximum recorded body length is over 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 travel to the Arctic. There, among the snow and ice, majestic polar bears live - the living embodiment of the formidable forces of nature.
The Inuit call polar bears "nanuk", which means "respected."
At birth, a newborn polar bear cub weighs only 700 grams. And the milk it feeds on surpasses milk of other species of bears in fat content. Two months after birth, the bear weighs 10 kg.
Up to a year and a half, he is accompanied everywhere by a caring mother. And at the age of two, when many human children still have difficulty walking and getting their diapers dirty, a young polar bear is already gaining its normal weight and is capable of picking up 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 hunting is successful, so half of their life is spent looking for food.
9. Salted crocodile ≈ 590 kg
Most of the largest animals are not peaceful in nature. But even among them, crested crocodiles stand out for their aggressiveness and bloodthirstiness. The scariest animal in the world even got into the Guinness Book of Records for the fact that, together with relatives, he ate a thousand Japanese soldiers during the Second World War.
But it is unlikely that the crested crocodiles can be counted among the allies, because they would eat with the same pleasure both the Russians and the American and any other soldiers.
8. Giraffe ≈ 800 kg
Among the largest animals in the world, giraffes immediately stand out for their long neck. Thanks to her, they are the tallest terrestrial 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 most other mammals.
We can safely say about giraffes that they have a big heart. It weighs 12 kilograms and creates pressure that would terrify any hypertensive patient. What the body does not go to so that the blood can reach the brain.
Also, giraffes are famous for their long tongue. Only they do not need it for gossip, but in order to eat leaves from the tallest trees in the African savannah. In length, this organ reaches as much as 45 centimeters.
7. Hippopotamus ≈ up to 4.5 tons
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the third largest land animal in the world. But hippos do not 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 hydrated under the scorching African sun. If the hippopotamus is unable to submerge in cool water, its skin cracks.
Female hippos began to give birth underwater long before it became a fashionable trend in the human world. By the way, hippos are one of the few mammals whose young can suck their mother's milk while under water.
In most European languages, the hippopotamus is called the "hippopotamus". This word came from the Latin language (and there, in turn, from Greek) and in translation means "river horse". Of course with the most beautiful horses this massive creature cannot be compared, but in the water it is very fast and agile.
6. Southern Elephant Seal ≈ 2.2 tons
Among the largest animals on our planet, there are two elephants at once, one of them being terrestrial, and the second sea.
This seal got its name for a leather bag on the nose, which, during anxiety or during mating fights, swells, turning into a large ball.
5. White rhino ≈ 2.3 tons
An old joke about a rhino says that he has poor eyesight, but at such a large size, this is no longer his 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 smaller counterparts, black rhinos, white ones usually run away when they see a person. But Black rushes to the attack.
Due to the uncontrolled extermination of white rhinos, the northern subspecies has disappeared. This happened very recently, in 2018, when the last male named Sudan died. So now we can only admire the photos 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 land creatures. Due to its size and body weight, the elephant entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest land mammal. Among the savannah elephants, there are also heavyweights. So, in Angola in 1974, an elephant weighing 12.2 tons was shot.
Like their smaller counterparts, African elephants can use their trunks (which have over 40,000 muscles) to lift anything up to 180 kg. Unfortunately, the largest land animal cannot boast the largest population. Poaching kills 25,000 elephants every year.
3. Great whale shark ≈ 20 tons
It seems strange that the biggest shark in the world - this is not the worst 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 quickly, and almost does not pay attention to people passing by. This allows divers to ride on the back of a whale shark if they wish.
Videos of the largest animals in the world often show people swimming with whale sharks.
2. Sperm whale ≈ 40 tons
One of the best ways to spot a sperm whale in the ocean is by its massive head. Sperm whales have the largest brain of all living things 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 sperm bag that accounts for 90% of the weight of the sperm whale's head.
Scientists speculate that spermaceti is what helps these huge toothed whales dive and emerge from the depths. There must be something that keeps all 40 tons of the 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 is 33 meters long. And this is still on average, since whalers have encountered 180-ton and even 190-ton whales.
The heart of a blue whale is one and a half meter 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 the man for the blue whale is the most dangerous enemy. 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.