Some animals are so small you can’t see them, and some are so gigantic you can barely even fathom it, we’re counting down 20 famous examples of oversized beasts in the history of Earth
20 – Macroptychaster Sea Stars
- Found in antarctic waters in 2008, though gigantism is common there
- 2 feet in width, they feed on invertebrats and smaller sea stars, found over 600 meters below water
- Holding them is like holding up a small infant
19 – Giant Weta Cricket
- 11 species, HUGE insect
- Body length of 4 inches, weighs 20-30g
- They’ve been known to devour giant vegetables alone
- They’re greek name is Deinacrida, “the Terrible Grasshopper”
18 – Capybara
- largest rodent in the worlds, like a giant hamster
- Found in South America, usually near water
- They reach 1.5 meters in length, 3 feet tall, and weigh over a hundred kilograms
- They typically hang out in large packs
17 – Giant African land snail
- Their shells alone grown to the length of 18 centimetres and 9 cenimetres wide, the entire snail can reach up to 8 inches in length
- Frequently confiscated at airports because people keep these things as pets, mainly because people value their size, distinctive markings and rarity
- Though the snail is technically considered a pest that negatively affects agriculture and ecosystems
16 – Dalmatian Pelican
- Found all over the place, from Southeastern Europe, China and parts of India, mainly around swamps and lakes
- It gets upwards of 160cms in length, 30 pounds in weight and with wings spread, 3 metres in length
- It’s also the worlds heaviest bird species, though there are exceptions from time to time
15 – Flemish Giant
- Domesticated rabbits, massive, often mistaken for dogs
- Weights 10 to 12kg
- They were bred in the 16th century near belgium, also the ancestor to many rabbits alive today
- Since the early 1900s they’re primarily seen in livestock shows due to their size and varying colours – and they’ve been dubbed with the nickname: Gentle Giants
14 – Saltwater Crocodile
- Largest of all living reptiles
- Can reach sizes upwards of 6 metres, and weight beyond 2000kg
- You’ll usually find these things in mangrove swamps, deltas, lagoons, rivers or hanging off a dude’s arm
- They’re known as a hypercarnivorous apex ambush predator, and they can fight almost ANY animal that enters its territory
13 – Japanese Spider Crab
- Large, nightmarish legs
- 4 metres tall, almost 20 kilograms
- In spite of its ferocious appearance, it has a gentle disposition
- Make no mistake though, those claws can slice your face clean in two
12 – Coconut Crab
- Species of terrestrial hermit crab, largest living anthropod on Earth
- Weighs up to 4 kgs and grows up to 1 meter in length
- Its claws can crush a coconut in half, so like the spider crab, best to leave them alone
- If it’s crawling on your trash bin, I recommend buying a new trash bin
11 – Great Dane
- Big danes pop up every now and then, Giant George, Titan and Zeus have all been Guiness World Record Holders
- The big ones weight around 250 pounds and reach over 40 inches in height
- Unfortunately some like Titan suffered health problems like deafness, blindness and epilepsy, and because of their limited lifespan most of them are now dead
10 – Chinese Giant Salamander
- largest salamander on Earth, over 5 feet in length
- Endangered species, half because they’re considered a delicacy, but also because of human-caused pollution, habitat reduction and they’re also harvested for types of medicine
- Curiously enough, it’s also basically blind, which makes getting away from humans more difficult
9 – Mekong Catfish
- Typically found in China’s waterways, rumoured to have grown on pollution
- 10 feet long, turned into a delicacy, provides meals for dozens
8 – Giraffe
- Tallest living animal on Earth atm
- 6 metres tall, weighs between 1,500 to 800 kgs based on gender
- Neck alone is 2 metres high
7 – Titanoboa (snake)
- The “Titanic boa” largest snake ever
- 50 feet long, foot wide weighs dozens more than largest current living snake
- Alive 60 million years after the fall of the dinosaurs
6 – African Bush Elephant
- Heaviest land animal alive today
- 7 metres in length, 3 metres in height and weighs 6 tons
- Because of its size, no other animals tend to hunt it, but its young are frequently assaulted by tigers, crocodiles and hyenas
5 – Giant Stingray
- One of the largest freshwater fishes in the world
- Growns upwards of 1.9 metres in length and weighs 600kg
- Heavily fished for meat, recreation and aquarium display, lead to population declines in central Thailand and Cambodia
4 – Leedsichthys
- Biggest fish ever to exist
- 54 feet long, weighs 50 metric tons
- Lived in the jurassic period, when dinosaurs ruled the earth and marine predators were abundant
- It’s one fish you don’t ever want to mess with
3 – Argentinosaurus
- 100 millions years old
- Six or seven story tall building in length
- 120 feet long, 100 tons, biggest dinosaur ever
- Like giraffe, needed long neck to reach high canopies to eat plants
2 – Spinosaurus
- It’s known as the “Spine Lizard”, if you think the Tyrannosaurus is terrifying, the Spinosaurus is the largest predator to ever exist on Earth
- It was 60 feet long, 20 feet high, weighed almost 10 metric tons and if alive today would snack on human beings
- We’re still not 100% sure what the spine was for, but theories suggest either to warm itself up using the sun, or to attract a mate
1 – Blue Whale
- Marine animal coming in at 30 metres in length and 180 metric tons in weight
- Feeds on krill, consumes over 3 tons of food a day
- It’s heart is the size of a small car
- It’s tongue alone could support 50 full grown human beings
- Biggest animal ever to exist on Earth
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