Perhaps the biggest creatures we’ve ever seen are on the big screen.
Two creatures that spring to mind are King Kong and Godzilla, the oversized American
Ape and the Japanese Dinosaur.
They met before in 1962 and then in 1963, and either Kong won the fight or it ended
in a draw.
A new match-up will happen in 2020, but there’s just one thing, Kong is much smaller than
Godzilla in most movies; he climbs up skyscrapers rather than walk over them.
In the last film he was bigger, about 100 feet tall.
He was considered to be 50 feet tall before that, small enough to get stomped on by the
giant lizard.
Those that have studied the movies say Godzilla is 350 feet tall.
Today we will look at the world’s biggest real life beasts in this episode of the Infographics
Show, Largest Creatures that Exist Right Now.
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The largest of them all right now is the Blue Whale.
This magnificent animal can reach up to weights of 181 metric tons.
That’s 396,832 pounds (181,000 kilos).
To put that into perspective, that’s a similar weight to 2,500 average weight healthy human
males.
Its length can reach up to around 100 feet (30 meters), which is about the length of
a basketball court.
Another thing we know about the blue whale is that it’s got a big heart, weighing in
at about 1,300 lbs (600 kg), as much as a Mini Cooper.
It’s also got a very large tongue that weighs around 2.7 tons, which is 5,952.48 pounds
(2,700 kilos).
As you can guess, it must eat a lot to keep going, and its favorite dish is a shrimp-like
creature called krill.
In one day, the blue whale will consume about 3.6 tons (7,900 pounds) of krill.
They were almost hunted into extinction by us heartless humans, but since the 1960s,
whales became a protected species and have made a slow comeback.
One of their more modern concerns is bumping into ships in crowded oceans.
If they dodge all the bullets, they can live to the ripe old age of 110.
Staying in the water, the largest fish is the whale shark.
It can weigh up to around 21.5 metric tons ( or 47,000 pounds), although according to
some science media, far bigger whale sharks have been spotted but their weight was never
recorded.
Staying with what we know, the largest ever recorded was 41.5 feet long (12.65 meters).
Even its mouth is about 4.9 ft wide (1.5 meters), big enough to eat plenty of krill, squid,
and fish.
They are friendly and don’t mind divers.
Humans have even been known to ride on them.
Unfortunately, we hunt them, and so they are now considered an endangered species.
They usually live until about the age of 30.
The largest animal that walks on land is the African elephant.
Size can differ depending on the animal, and females are much smaller than males.
At its largest, the male can reach a maximum of around 7 tons (or 15,432 pounds).
That’s about the same as four BMW 5-Series cars, or about 100 people each weighing 155
lbs (70 kilograms).
One weighing that much would probably be around 10.8 feet tall (3.3 meters).
They are herbivorous animals, meaning they have mostly a plant diet.
They pack the veggies in, though, and consume about 500 lbs (225 kilograms) of plants a
day.
They also consume more than 50 gallons (190 liters) of water a day.
If they are not poached by humans or killed as calves by lions or other big cats, they
can expect to live until they are about 70 years old.
In the air, the largest bird, in wing span at least, is the wandering albatross.
This giant can have a wing span of up to 11.5 ft (3.5 meters) and it can weigh up to 35
lbs (16.1 kilos).
Although at that weight, it’s too fat to fly and is still young.
Once it starts flying distances of up to 75,000 miles (120,000 km) a year, they are much leaner.
They can live up to the age of about 50.
The biggest bird that doesn’t fly is the ostrich.
It weighs at its most about 345 lbs (156 kilos) and can reach a height of about of 9.2 ft
(2.8 meters).
This, however, is much bigger than the average ostrich.
The impressive thing about this non-flying winged creature is that it can run up to speeds
of 60.6 MPH (97.5kph).
That means in the USA you could quite easily see one of these things keeping up with you
when driving down the highway.
It will live until the age of 30-40.
Now for the scary creatures, notwithstanding a giant ostrich chasing you down the street
would cause some amount of distress.
But being wrapped inside the world’s biggest snake might feel worse.
That snake is the giant green anaconda.
The biggest ever found weighed 550 lbs (250 kilos) and was 25 ft (7.5 meters) in length.
This is what most science media say, but there have been reports of 60 foot anacondas when
British explorers were mapping the Amazon.
Just in 2016, the tabloid media reported that a 33 foot (400 kilo) Anaconda was caught and
killed by Brazilian construction workers.
Like most sightings and rumors, it was not confirmed and The Sun newspaper has never
been noted for lacking in hyperbole.
Anacondas eat mostly small animals or birds, but sometimes pigs and deer.
They are also partial to a bit of human now and again, with the last reported human meal
being an unfortunate 25 year old Indonesian man being eaten in 2017.
They can live until they are about 10.
Asian Reticulated Pythons can be longer, but they are not as heavy.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest spider ever recorded was a male
goliath bird-eating tarantula.
It had a leg span of 11 inches (28 centimeters), about the size of a dinner plate.
However, many of you may have seen the frightening photo of the giant huntsman spider taken in
Australia last year.
It looked much bigger than 11 inches.
Many people didn’t believe it was real, or though that the photographer had just exploited
the angles.
Live Science did however confirm that they can grow up to 12 inches (30 centimeters).
The person who took the photo said she was upset people didn’t believe her.
She was quoted as saying, “She is a Huntsman Spider and we are located in Queensland, Australia,
and yes she is very real and very large and not photoshopped!”
She also called the spider beautiful, calm, and not at all aggressive.
“Poor spiders are so misunderstood!”
she added.
You’ll be pleased to know both of these kinds of spiders pose little threat to humans,
but if you bug them (pun intended), they may give a slightly painful bite.
The tarantula typically lives about 15-25 years and the huntsmen only about 2 years.
Staying with spiders and arthropods, the largest crab is the Japanese spider crab.
It can have a leg span of 12.5 feet (3.8 meters).
These impressive beasts can hang around for up to 100 years.
Another scary creature for some people is the rodent, the largest of which is the capybara,
an animal that looks like a very big guinea pig.
They can grow up to 2 ft tall (60 centimeters), and can weigh up to 146 lbs (66 kilos).
However, one was once recorded weighing 201 lbs (91 kilos).
They eat mainly grass and plants but are also known as auto coprophagous, which means they
also eat their own poo.
There lifespan is about 12 years, that’s if they are not eaten by one of their main
predators, the green anaconda.
From furry friends to beasts that look like they belong to prehistoric times.
The world’s largest lizard, the komodo dragon.
Komodo dragons can weigh as much as 200 lbs (90 kilos).
Their length may reach 10 feet (3 meters).
They live on islands in Indonesia where they prey on other animals such as pigs, deer,
or even water buffalos.
They are certainly not scared of humans, and there are plenty of recent reports of attacks
on humans, including instances when the person ended up as dinner.
They run about 13 mph (20 kph), which is close to the average running speed of a healthy
adult human.
They live until they are about 30.
They usually make it, too, as they are kings of the islands where they live.
We’ll leave you with that to ponder.
Have you ever been up close to one of the creatures mentioned?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Could Aliens 65 Million Light Years
Away from Earth See Dinosaurs Alive?
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!