Clockwise from top left: an African bush elephant, the largest extant terrestrial animal; a blue whale, the largest animal of all time; and a colossal squid, the largest invertebrate
The largest animal currently alive is the blue whale. The maximum recorded weight was 190 tonnes for a specimen measuring 27.6 metres (91 ft), whereas longer ones, up to 33.6 metres (110 ft), have been recorded but not weighed.[1][2][3] It is estimated, this individual could have a mass of 250 tonnes or more.[4][5][6] The longest non-colonial animal is the lion's mane jellyfish (37 m, 120 ft).[7]
In 2023, paleontologists estimated that the extinct whale Perucetus, discovered in Peru, may have outweighed the blue whale, with a mass of 85 to 340 t (94–375 short tons; 84–335 long tons).[8] However more recent studies suggest this whale was much smaller than previous estimates putting its weight at 60 to 113 tonnes.[9] While controversial, estimates for the weight of the sauropod Bruhathkayosaurus suggest it was around 110–170 tons, with the highest estimate being 240 tons, if scaled with Patagotitan, although actual fossil remains no longer exist, and that estimation is based on described dimensions in 1987.[10] The upper estimates of weight for these two prehistoric animals would have easily rivaled or exceeded the blue whale.
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal. A native of various open habitats in sub-Saharan Africa, males weigh about 6.0 tonnes (13,200 lb) on average.[11] The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1974. It was a male measuring 10.67 metres (35.0 ft) from trunk to tail and 4.17 metres (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 3.96 metres (13.0 ft). This male had a computed weight of 10.4 to 12.25 tonnes.[1]
^ abWood, Gerald The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats (1983) ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9
^Davies, Ella (20 April 2016). "The longest animal alive may be one you never thought of". BBC Earth. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
^"Largest mammal". Guinness World Records.
^Motani, Ryosuke; Pyenson, Nicholas D. (29 February 2024). "Downsizing a heavyweight: factors and methods that revise weight estimates of the giant fossil whale Perucetus colossus". PeerJ. 12: e16978. doi:10.7717/peerj.16978. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 10909350. PMID 38436015.
^"How Large Are Blue Whales Really? Size Comparison". Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2019 – via www.youtube.com.
^"How big are blue whales? And what does 'big' mean? By palaeozoologist on DeviantArt". February 2014.
^McClain, Craig R.; Balk, Meghan A.; Benfield, Mark C.; Branch, Trevor A.; Chen, Catherine; Cosgrove, James; Dove, Alistair DM; Gaskins, Leo C.; Helm, Rebecca R. (13 January 2015). "Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna". PeerJ. 3: E715. doi:10.7717/peerj.715. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 4304853. PMID 25649000.
^Bianucci, Giovanni; Lambert, Olivier; Urbina, Mario; Merella, Marco; Collareta, Alberto; Bennion, Rebecca; Salas-Gismondi, Roberto; Benites-Palomino, Aldo; Post, Klaas; de Muizon, Christian; Bosio, Giulia; Di Celma, Claudio; Malinverno, Elisa; Paolo Pierantoni, Pietro; Maria Villa, Igor; Amson, Eli (2 August 2023). "A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology". Nature. 620 (7975): 824–829. Bibcode:2023Natur.620..824B. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06381-1. PMID 37532931. S2CID 260433513. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
^Pester, Patrick (8 March 2024). "Colossus the enormous 'oddball' whale is not the biggest animal to ever live, scientists say". Lve Science. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
^Cite error: The named reference Bruhathkayosaurus2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Emanuelson, Karen (2006). "Neonatal Care and Hand Rearing". Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants. pp. 223–241. doi:10.1002/9780470344484.ch16. ISBN 978-0-470-34448-4.
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