Many animals have various distinct characteristics, but not every species has a large size. Though there is not a possibility of saying which is the largest, here are eleven of the largest animals in the world.
The sperm whale cannot be considered to be a surprise when considering large animals, especially large whales. This giant animal species’ name originates from a chemical wax substance that it contains within its body. This chemical is called spermaceti and is considered one of the most valuable chemicals that is used for various purposes. For centuries, sperm whales were subject to hunting from various whale-hunters and shipmen. This was because of the poaching procedure that these people were pursuing, as apart for medical purposes, its chemical was used for creating candles, soaps and sometimes oils for several machines and engines. This animal is considered to be the smartest of the animals in this list.
It contains the largest brain in proportion to its body, which gives it the ability to protect itself against several predators. It can possibly grow over 22 meters in length and weighs hundreds of tons.
Although many consider it to be whale, this animal species is actually a dolphin. This species is particularly famous among movie enthusiasts, as several movies in Hollywood made it famous to the public. Orcas, mainly because of their appearance in child movies, are usually considered to be friendly animals, which is thought that they like to jump and do tricks at several amusement parks in the world. Do not let this presumption fool you however, as there are plenty of reasons why they are commonly called as killer whales. These animals are ferocious predators and they tend to be considered one of the deadliest hunters in the nature.
Although they tend to kill almost any species found within their reach, including humans, they tend to prefer predating several marine mammal species such as seals and sea lions.
Meet the one most dangerous animals in the world. This is the Nile crocodile. This species originates from Africa and is considered to be the second largest reptile living in the world. This dangerous and enormous crocodile species is reported to be mostly found in the areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. More specifically, the Nile crocodile tend to live mostly in the central, eastern, and southern areas of the African continent, as this reptile is considered to be quite widespread when it comes to reproduction. This species is capable of living in different types of environments. This can include rivers, lakes and marshlands.These crocodiles can live in areas with seawater, they are rarely found living in such areas. As their name says, they prefer to live in the river Nile deltas and riverside.
The most feared predator thanks to movies and popular culture. Great White sharks are capable of being grown up to 6 meters in length and can weigh up to two tons. These are ferocious predators to humans. White sharks are mostly known for their merciless attacks on humans, boats and anything else that is capable of floating on the sea surface. Great White Sharks is considered to be a lamniform shark, which is reported to be found in almost all oceans’ surfaces. This species does not have many natural predators.
However, apart from humans who try to kill him through hunting, the killer whales or orcas are its main threats, as they can be easily be outmatched because of the whales’ size.
Seals indeed look very cute and friendly. However, the Southern Elephant Seal cannot be considered that cure, as this species is carnivorous in nature, meaning that it loves to eat meat. For this reason, this animal is a threat to human life, as it can be easily enlisted in its prey for a lovely meal. The Southern elephant seal is one of the two, but the largest, elephant seal species. It is also considered to be the biggest and most dangerous seal species of the main North Pole and Antarctic Sea.
Its name originates from its large size and the proboscis which is found on adult males. This proboscis is used by males to make several abnormal sounds and noises, which are mainly used to attract females during mating season.
Hippos are amongst the three biggest animals on land. They are considered to be semi-aquatic animals. They tend to spend their time being submerged in the lake shores and other water holes. Although they seem happy and calm animals, most of them are quite dangerous because of their extreme speed and body mass that they possess, making them an adequate threat when they feel that they are under attack. Hippos are large and mostly herbivorous animals. They mostly life in Sub-Saharan Africa. The name of this animal originates from the Greek phrase the river horse. Despite looking like terrestrial ungulates, their closest relatives are whales, from which they diverged fifty-five million years ago.
The oldest hippo found was a fossil in Africa. This fossil was found sixteen million years ago, and is considered to be a close relative with whales and porpoises.
The tiger shark belongs to the requiem shark species of sharks. It is reported to be the only living of the once glorious genus of Galeocerdo. Tiger Sharks are commonly called the Sea Tigers. Tiger Sharks is a relatively large in size and is considered to be a macro-predator. They are capable of growing to have a length of over 5 metres. This ferocious shark species is commonly found in most of the tropical and temperate waters of Earth, such as the Caribbean Sea, but they are mostly found to live in the islands of the central Pacific Ocean.
Tiger shark’s name originates from its dark stripes that it has on its body, which resemble a somehow tiger pattern. They are typically fed with birds and turtles.
This is the original danger of the South Eastern America. Most people living in these areas of the US are familiar with the American Alligator and its ferocity and teeth. It belongs to Alligator species Alligatoridae and is considered to be the biggest of its kind. It is reported to be 2 times larger than its cousin, the Chinese alligator. Male American alligators can grow in length up to 5 metres long and can weigh five hundred kilos. Females are smaller, as they grow up to 3 metres long and weigh 350 kilos.
This species generally lives in freshwater wetlands and they are mostly found in Texas, Miami and North Carolina. American Alligators are very different from American crocodiles, as they have sharper teeth and darker skin colour.
The Recki Elephant is an extinct elephant species originating from Asia. It is considered to be a close relative to the Asian Elephas maximus. Reckis were measured to be more than 5 meters in height and over 15 tons in weight. These elephants were considered to be the tallest elephant species ever lived on the Earth. Reckis were started to live and inhabit Asia about 4 to 1 million years ago. This Elephant species was mainly fed by grass. It is considered to have lived in Pleistocene period of Evolution until it was absolutely extinct.
One of the main reasons of its extinction is mainly attributed to the competition with today’s African Elephants, which were more agile and powerful to overcome diseases and deaths.
The white rhinoceros or what is commonly known as the square-lipped rhinoceros is the largest of all living species of Rhinos on Earth at the moment. They have a characteristic wide mouth, which is utilised for grazing. This species is considered to the most social of all rhinoceros’ species. The white rhinoceros is reported to be consisted of two subspecies. The first of these is the southern white rhinoceros. It is estimated that there more than 20,000 wild-living animals through a calculation research made in 2015. The much rarer of these is the northern white rhinoceros.
These rhino subspecies have only three animals remaining, all living in captivity and under strict scrutiny to avoid extinction. Both subspecies were victims of poaching in the African savannas, as it was believed that their horns had medical value.
The giraffe is almost as iconic as lions for the African wildlife. This African even-toed ungulate mammal is considered to be the tallest animal on land and the largest ruminant. Giraffe’s name originates from its camel shape and the leopard-like colours. It has extremely long legs and neck and has distinct coat patterns and ears. The Okapi is considered to be its closest living relative. Although it is only living in Africa, there are nine subspecies. The only difference between each other is the pattern of the coat, which may be varied from colours, shapes or even sizes.
It is mostly found from Chad to South Africa. They inhabit savannas and open woodlands. They tend to eat tree leaves which are mostly unreachable for most of the animals. Their main predator is lions.
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