Hi everyone!!! Today we are going to introduce the world’s ten most giant animals of all time. Maybe you’ve already watched many videos and read many articles about the ten biggest animals in the world.
If you haven’t, you should check it out. But today’s article will focus on the ten biggest animals literally of all time, which means we’re going to include animals that are already extinct. Let’s begin.
Contents
# 1: BLUE WHALE
The blue whale has been still being and hopefully will always be the largest animal in the world. I mean, I wouldn’t like to see any animal more massive than this, it would be quite interesting.
The blue whale can achieve a weight of 180 tons and a size of up to 30 meters long. That’s about the size of the leaning tower of Pisa, which is already one monumental work of architecture.
You think elephants are big, well. The tongues of the blue whales alone are as heavy as an elephant. Also, the hearts of these big mammals can be as heavy as a car. Maybe you would think such a big size feed on big animals, but their main diet consists of tiny plankton and small shrimp called krill.
They’re decent swimmers moving at 30 kilometers per hour, and with that impressive size, I’m surprised that they can move that fast. And just in case you’ve forgotten, or perhaps you don’t even know it yet, whales are not fish.
They are mammals just like dogs, bears, and other hairy animals you see around, and just like those animals, baby whales also need their milk. They can drink as much as 600 liters of milk each day, gaining about 90 kilos of weight daily during their first year of life. That explains how they reach their large size in adulthood.
The number of blue whales has been decreasing due to whale hunters’ threats. So we hope that does change in the future. And honestly, I don’t think we want to see another animal on this list go extinct.
#2: SHASTASAURUS
If you’re into reptiles and exotic prehistoric animals, you’ve probably heard about the liopleurodon. Some people have said that the liopleurodon was the largest aquatic reptile ever to exist. But even though it was quite big and intimidating, it was not the largest one. That title belongs to the Shastasaurus.
The Shastasaurus was not that scary or dangerous, but it was definitely big. it was about 20 meters long and weighed around 80 000 pounds. It’s almost as big as the sperm whales we have today. However, the shastasaurus was a toothless reptile, and it had a tiny jaw, which suggested it probably fed by sucking things like a vacuum.
# 3: ARGENTINOSAURUS
You’ve already learned about the largest mammal and largest dinosaur to ever dwell on the land at this point. But there’s another animal that lives on land that was even bigger than those two. It’s the argentinosaurus known as the king of sauropods.
The Argentinosaurus was not just large but also the longest one to live on land. They could reach a height above seven meters and weigh about 224 thousand pounds. Even their eggs were bigger than the biggest eggs you’ve seen. They were almost as big as coconut and weighed five pounds.
It would take these animals about 40 years to reach adulthood, which gives them plenty of time to gain those 200 000 pounds needed to be a healthy grown sauropod. It’s estimated that their daily diet required an intake of a hundred thousand calories, like eating 300 muffins in one day. I guess that makes sense for an animal this big.
# 4: SPINOSAURUS
Films have done a great job of bringing awareness to prehistoric animals. For that reason, thanks to movies like Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, we know a bit more about dinosaurs and other animals that are now extinct.
We learn the names and interesting characteristics of these species. That’s the case of the spinosaurus, a dinosaur that you probably remember from the Jurassic Park movies from the 90s.
They were the largest carnivore dinosaurs on earth. They could be about 18 meters, and in fact, at 1.8 meters long, their head alone was the size of a human being. And those spines on their backs were about two meters high.
Even though they were so big, they didn’t feed on any large animals. Their diet consisted of fish and sharks that they could eat with their serrated teeth. Their ability to swim made it easier for them to get this kind of food.
# 5: MEGALODON
The megalodon is the largest shark ever and the protagonist of a poorly rated movie franchise. Like many other prehistoric creatures, this animal’s name comes from the greek, and the meaning is a big tooth.
I believe that gives you an idea of how big and wide its jaws are. Not only was it the largest shark in the world, but it’s also one of the largest vertebrate predators ever. How intimidating can that be?
Just think about this the white shark, which is the current largest shark in today’s world, is carnivorous. It can grow almost 20 feet long and weigh as much as 7 000 pounds.
However, the megalodon was easily three times bigger and could be 15 times heavier than its modern-day relatives. With such a large size and a predator instinct, this animal was likely at the top of its food chain, and it probably fed from dolphins and maybe even whales.
The animal went extinct more than one million years ago, but some people like to think that the megalodon is still out there in the deep ocean or the Mariana trench or something like that. I guess Hollywood has really put some crazy ideas in our heads, or maybe they know something that we don’t.
# 6: TITANOBOA
The anaconda and the python are the largest snakes in the world today. But these two are so small compared to their very large ancestor, “the Titanoboa.”
This giant snake, which could be as long as a school bus, lived in the south American rainforest about 60 million years ago. With almost 13 meters of length, the snake was not just long, but it was also quite wide to the point that it would have to squeeze into your doorframe if it came to find you in your house today.
This giant snake weighed about 2 500 pounds, which makes it half as heavy as a giraffe. I don’t think you could have just picked up this snake and took it home as a pet or toss it away like some people do when they find snakes in the wild. This snake was pretty much like any other big animal today. It was better to leave them alone
# 7: KRONOSAURUS
Though considered once as the largest pliosaur ever, the animal I have here is believed to have ruled at the top of the food chain.
The Kronosaurus, named after the Greek god Cronus who ate his children, was a very intimidating predator. It could be about 10 meters tall and weighed something between 30 to 40 thousand pounds.
The Kronosaurus would prey on all sorts of creatures, including fish, squids, and even other pliosaurs and ichthyosaurs. With such an intimidating reputation and a name, I’m sure the Kronosaurus didn’t have to worry about other animals out there.
# 8: LEEDSICHTHYS
The whale shark is actually the largest fish in today’s world, but it is not the largest fish in history. There’s a larger fish, and that’s the leedsichthys. But it’s not far from the size of whale sharks.
Leedsichthys might be approximately 27 meters long. Nevertheless, later studies have shown that they might have only been around 16 meters long, which is still slightly larger than the whale sharks but just not for that much. Also, they were heavier, weighing about 43 thousand pounds.
Just like the whale shark, the Leedsichthys was also a filter feeder. They are eating plankton, shrimp jellyfish, and some small creature that got stuck in his mouth. I wish we’d see the Leedsichthys these days, but at least we still have the whale shark, which is pretty close enough.
# 9: WHALE SHARK
Here’s one that we previously saw on the biggest animals in the world and a few other of our lists, the whale shark. And So let me refresh or introduce you to a few facts about this fantastic animal. First of all, the whale shark is probably the largest fish in the world. That’s right, though its name implies otherwise, this animal is not a whale, but it is, in fact, a fish.
The name is simply a reference to its massive size, and if you haven’t seen one yet, you’d probably think it is a whale. They can almost reach a size of 14 meters long and can weigh up to 41 000 pounds.
They’re known for having long lives, and some of them make it to 150 years. With their enormous size, they could easily rain in the underwater world, especially when they move across the major oceans.
However, despite the shark naming, they are filter feeders that mainly eat plankton and small fish that get caught in their big mouths. They are pretty friendly, and sometimes they can be spotted swimming with humans.
# 10: PARACERATHERIUM
I believe some of you were surprised when the elephant wasn’t included in the world’s biggest animals. Well, today, I’m giving you something even bigger than the elephant. And it’s not the mammoth I’m talking about, the Paraceratherium, which holds the name of being probably the largest land mammal that has ever lived.
They stood at a towering 7 meters tall, which makes them taller than modern-day giraffes. And they weigh between 33 and 44 000 pounds. This makes them nearly three times heavier compared to the heaviest elephants we have today.
Like elephants, they’re not an immediate threat to various other animals or humans since they were herbivores. But with that big size, I’m sure they were pretty intimidating. And they kept predators at a distance. They became extinct when the landscapes in Central Asia started to transform, making it hard to find the means to survive.
I do wonder what it would have been like to see one of these in the wild, but I’m sure we would have been able to spot them from very far away regardless.
RESOURCE
Pictures retrieved from …
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