Animals
A member of the order Cetacea, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is believed to be the largest animal ever to have lived. The maximum recorded weight was 190 tonnes for a specimen measuring 30 m (98 ft), while longer ones, up to 33.4 m (110 ft), have been recorded but not weighed.
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), of the order Proboscidea, is the largest living land animal. A native of various open habitats in sub-Saharan Africa, this elephant is born commonly weighing about 100 kg (220 lb). The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1974. It was a male measuring 10.7 m (35 ft) from trunk to tail and 4.2 m (13.7 ft) lying on its side in a projected line from the highest point of the shoulder to the base of the forefoot, indicating a standing shoulder height of 4.0 m (13 ft).
- Table of heaviest living animals
The following is a list of the heaviest living animals, which are all cetaceans. These whales also qualify as the largest living mammals. Since no scale can accommodate the body of a large whale, most whales have been weighed by parts.
| Rank | Animal | Average mass |
Maximum mass |
Average total length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue whale | 110 | 190 | 25.5 (84) |
| 2 | North Pacific right whale | 60 | 120 | 15.5 (51) |
| 3 | Southern right whale | 58 | 110 | 15.25 (50) |
| 4 | Fin whale | 57 | 120 | 19.5 (64.3) |
| 5 | North Atlantic right whale | 55 | 100 | 15 (49) |
| 6 | Bowhead whale | 54.5 | 120 | 15 (49) |
| 7 | Sperm whale | 31.25 | 57 | 13.25 (43.5) |
| 8 | Humpback whale | 29 | 48 | 13.5 (44) |
| 9 | Sei whale | 22.5 | 45 | 14.8 (49) |
| 10 | Gray whale | 19.5 | 45 | 13.5 (44) |
- Table of heaviest terrestrial animals
The following is a list of the heaviest wild land animals, which are all mammals. The African elephant is now listed as two species, the African bush elephant and the African forest elephant, as they are generally considered to be two separate species now.
| Rank | Animal | Average mass |
Maximum mass |
Average total length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | African bush elephant | 4.9 | 12.7 | 6 (18): Height* |
| 2 | Asian elephant | 4.15 | 8.0 | 6.8 (22) |
| 3 | African forest elephant | 2.8 | 6.0 | 6.2 (20) |
| 4 | White rhinoceros | 2.1 | 4.5 | 4.4 (14.5) |
| 5 | Indian rhinoceros | 1.9 | 4.0 | 4.2 (13.9) |
| 6 | Hippopotamus | 1.8 | 4.5 | 4 (13.2) |
| 7 | Javan rhinoceros | 1.715 | 2.3 | 3.8 (12.5) |
| 8 | Black rhinoceros | 1.1 | 2.9 | 4 (13.2) |
| 9 | Giraffe | 1.0 | 2 | 5.15 (16.9) |
| 10 | Gaur | 0.95 | 1.5 | 3.8 (12.5) |
Read more about this topic: Largest Organisms
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“The greatness of man is so evident that it is even proved by his wretchedness. For what in animals is nature, we call in man wretchedness—by which we recognize that, his nature being now like that of animals, he has fallen from a better nature which once was his.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“Lost at night in an immense forest, I only have a small light to guide me. A man appears who tells me: “My friend, blow out your candle in order to find your way.” This man is a theologian.
The sea, fluid garden filled with animals and plants.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)
“About sacrifice and the offering of sacrifices, sacrificial animals think quite differently from those who look on: but they have never been allowed to have their say.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)