Compiling a rating of the largest animals in the world, we took not only terrestrial representatives of the flora, but also animals of the underwater world. The representative of each animal in our TOP once was noted for its size, exceeding the average parameters of its relatives.
Largest insect: Titan beetle (Titanus giganteus)
- Weight: 100g
- Length: 16.7 cm.
Titan beetles are sometimes mistaken for cockroaches, but these huge South American insects are a separate species. They have strong jaws that can bite through a pencil, and sharp claws that beetles use for defensive purposes. Nobody knows what their larvae look like, as they have never been seen.
Largest arthropod: Japanese Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempferi)
- Weight: 19 kg
- Length: 3.8 m.
The arthropod family includes lobsters and crabs, spiders, scorpions, insects, and other creatures that have articulated exoskeletons. The largest recorded arthropod is the Japanese spider crab, caught in 1921.
Largest lizard: Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis)
- Weight: 91 kg
- Length: 3 m.
The largest lizard on Earth is the Komodo dragon (Komodo dragon). This is a dangerous animal. Females are usually smaller than males and usually reach no more than 1.8 m in length, which is about the same size as the average male. These lizards prey on large prey such as water buffaloes, pigs and deer, and are known to even hunt humans.
Largest snake: giant anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
- Weight: 250KG
- Length: 9.1 m.
In terms of total mass, the largest snake in the world is the giant anaconda. A snake longer than a London double-decker bus is very wide in the middle, allowing it to swallow all kinds of prey, including deer-sized mammals, fish, alligators, birds and even humans.
Largest rodent: Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
- Weight: 65 kg
- Length: 1.4 m.
The capybara looks like a giant guinea pig. They live in herds of up to 40 animals. Males and females are about the same size.
Largest amphibian: Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus)
- Weight: 70KG
- Length: 1.8 m.
The Chinese giant salamander has lived underwater all its life, but it has no gills. Instead, it absorbs oxygen through the skin. This strange creature often reaches the size of many adults. During breeding, females lay up to 500 eggs, and the males take care of them until the young hatch.
Largest bird: Ostrich (Struthio camelus)
- Weight: 157 kg
- Length: 2.74 m.
Male ostriches can grow up to 3 meters in height and weigh up to 157 kg. Females are usually smaller.
Largest reptile: saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
- Weight: 1075 kg
- Length: 6.1 m.
Males of the saltwater crocodile are very large - their size is about twice the size of grizzly bears. Females are much smaller and rarely exceed 3 m in length.
Largest animal in history: blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
- Weight: 150,000 kg
- Length: 25 m.
Blue whales are larger than any dinosaur that has ever lived, and much larger than the largest living land animal on the planet. An adult blue whale is larger than three prehistoric Triceratops. He is the largest mammal on Earth. Other whale species approach it in size.
Largest land animal: African elephant (Loxodonta Africana)
- Weight: 11,000 kg
- Height: 4.2 m
- Length: 6-7 m.
The largest African elephant was shot in Angola in 1956. It weighed 11,000 kg and reached a height of 4 meters.
