Humans are believed to be superior to animals in various ways. We are known to have better mental capacity, use complex symbolic language, and have moral and self-awareness. However, animals can also outshine us with their own unique characteristics. Just like bats that can see in total darkness, beetles that can carry 850 times their weight, or blue whales that are 16 times bigger than a person.
To humble the human kind and remind us just how superior nature can be, the team at Bored Panda compiled a list of some of the biggest representatives of the animal kingdom. Scroll down to find them, and be ready to believe that what you’re about to see is real.
#1 Our Old Generator Storage Structure On Montana’s Eastern Front Has Become Brutus’s Personal Scratching Tree
Image credits: jamiegogues
#2 I Had No Idea That Wombats Could Get This Big
Image credits: Aealo
#3 This Massive Bison Is Being Tagged And Blood Tested By Vets Before Export From Canada To The USA. It's Easy To See How Male Bisons Can Weigh Nearly A Ton
Image credits: WestlockVeterinaryCenter
The previously mentioned antarctic blue whale holds the title of the biggest animal on earth. It can weigh up to 400,000 pounds and reach a length of 98 feet. The giant’s heart is the size of a car.
One of the most fascinating facts about these animals is that they reach such mind-boggling size by almost exclusively consuming tiny shrimp like organisms called krill. During feeding season, they can eat 7936 pounds of them a day.
#4 Kefir, The Giant Maine Coon Cat
Image credits: yuliyamnn
#5 Big Irish Wolfhound
Image credits: FormerFruit
#6 The Cecropia Moth, Largest Moth In North America, Has A Wingspan Between 5-7 Inches (13-18 Cm)
Image credits: TheFartingKing_56
They consume them by gulping a big amount of water and pushing it through baleen (comb-like keratin plates attached to the upper jaw). The food is left behind in the mouth and then swallowed.
In fact, their feeding type is the reason for their size.
#7 In Case You Haven't Seen One, This Is A Percheron! 5'5" Human For Scale
Image credits: reddit.com
#8 Behold
Image credits: unusuals86
#9 Little Lady Next To A Giant Dog
Image credits: millre01
Called lunge feeding, it allows blue whales to consume a large amount of food at a time, providing the nutrients and energy needed to reach such enormous size. And a sudden rise in ocean upwelling (when nutrient-rich water rises to the surface of the ocean) provided them with ample supply for prey—a perfect recipe for growing this big.
#10 Roger's Favorite Game Is Crushing His Feed Bucket! He Is Our Alpha Male Kangaroo, He Is 10 Years Old, Height 6'7'', Weight 200 Pounds And 100% Muscle
Image credits: The Kangaroo Sanctuary Alice Springs
#11 I'm An Evolutionary Geneticist Who Studies Hybridization. This Is Apollo The Liger, The Most Beautiful And Adorable Wild Cat I've Met. Humans For Spatial And Size Perspective
Image credits: AgaricX
#12 The Size Of This Saltwater Crocodile
Image credits: franny.plumridge
The second runner-up is another aquatic animal—the colossal squid. It can grow as long as 46 feet and weigh as much as 1,650 lbs.
Since it inhabits cold and deep regions of the Southern Ocean ranging from 66 to 6,562 feet deep, scientists have never succeeded in observing the biggest invertebrates (organisms without a backbone) in their natural habitat.
They only get a good look at them when fishermen accidentally catch them in the nets.
#13 That’s Not A Guinea Pig, That’s A Guinea Hog
Image credits: -stay-
#14 My Mom’s Big Cat Bob
Image credits: ptrk83
#15 My Baby, Me, And My Sister’s Draft Mule
I’ve seen them in pictures pretty big but it’s another thing to be standing next to one in person! My sister took the picture since his hip was above my head and I can’t stop laughing at it.
Image credits: asyouwissssh
It’s not a coincidence that most of the biggest animals in the world live underwater. Scientists believe that it would be too cold for warm-blooded animals to survive without being an appropriate size. The amount of warmth a body can generate depends on how many cells it’s comprised of. Therefore, a smaller body means that it doesn’t generate enough heat and loses it relatively quicker than a bigger physique with a wider surface area.
#16 Bow Before The Mighty Sea Cow
Image credits: Extra_Excrement
#17 My Pet, The Giant Hooded Katydid. He’s Bigger Than My Hand
Image credits: anotherpeskybird
#18 Absolute Lad Of A Tortoise
Image credits: thomaspeschak
Having a bigger body has other benefits for animals as well, like avoiding predators, catching prey, and enduring hardships. Having larger footsteps or swim strokes also allows them to cover greater distances to find food and reach mating places.
#19 Grandma Came To Visit LJ, And She Could Barely Pick Him Up. He’s Become So Big. I Reminded Her He’s Going To Grow For Another 2 Years
Image credits: jeremy_moss
#20 Found This Huge Jellyfish On The East Coast Of Australia
Image credits: DeftPerception
#21 Motorcycle In The Back For Reference On How Big This Bat Is
Image credits: sakundes
The reason animals on land can’t reach the size of some of the biggest aquatic animals is because they aren’t being supported by water. On the ground, they have to hold their weight against gravity. The bigger the animal, the thicker their legs have to be so they could support the weight without snapping. Meanwhile, a whale floats in water without the stress of gravity.
#22 Big Boy
Image credits: reddit.com
#23 Just A Big Leatherback Sea Turtle
Image credits: Geeky_
#24 Here Is Hogarth, My Absolute Unit Of A Snail
Image credits: Clokkers
Even though being bigger in the animal kingdom has its perks, they are at greater risk of going extinct, mostly because of humans. The blue whale population was drastically reduced, almost driving it to the edge of extinction, after commercial whaling started seeking whale oil. Such hunting was made illegal in 1966. However, their recovery is minor, as larger animals take longer to reproduce.
#25 Galápagos Tortoise. One Of The Biggest Vertebrate And An Endangered Species Which Can Weigh As Much As 400 Kg And Live Up To 100 Years Old. Horse For Reference
Image credits: Terminal_Monk
#26 This Beautiful Harpy Eagle
Image credits: Ashleigh0
#27 Mecynorhina Torquata Is One Of The Largest Flower Beetles In The World
Image credits: red.scale
#28 Imagine Seeing This Unit On The Road
Image credits: zoo_and_safari_world
#29 A Wolf With A Husky For Scale. He's Almost Three Times Bigger
Image credits: FormerFruit
#30 Unit Of An 8-Week-Old Kitten. They're From The Same Litter
Image credits: CommercialBox4175
#31 Size Of An Orangutan
Image credits: reddit.com
#32 87.5% Gray Wolf, 8.6% Husky And 3.9% German Shepherd
Image credits: brit_allen_
#33 Saltwater Crocodiles Are Kind Of Big
Image credits: BoosieStojakovic
#34 Kiwis Are Way Bigger Than I Thought
Image credits: ApteryxAustralis
#35 My Maine Coon Compared To My 5'5" Girlfriend
Image credits: Paradisity
#36 We Can Sometimes Forget How Huge Bears Really Are
Image credits: crosspostninja
#37 Flemish Giant Rabbits
Image credits: PuertoRicodesdeelAire
#38 Just Found Out About The Existence Of The Giant Oarfish
Image credits: sealface89
#39 This Bald Eagle Was Found Caught In A Trap And Rehabilitated By The Montana Raptor Conservation Center. Bald Eagles Are Huge Compared To A Human
Image credits: jeckles
#40 Sadie The Squirrel Has Eaten 3 Jack-O'-Lanterns So Far
Image credits: ElizabethDangit
#41 Meet Cuddles
Image credits: taozee3
#42 Spanish Mastiff Unit
Image credits: cassious64
#43 A Huge Great White Swimming Alongside A Fishing Boat
Image credits: cas2ie
#44 Absolute Rhino Beetle
Image credits: reddit.com
#45 Hickory Horned Devil Is The Largest Caterpillar In The World, Native To The Eastern US. Can Grow Up To 6 Inches Long And Is Completely Harmless, Except Visually Terrifying
Image credits: reddit.com
#46 This Mountain Lion Is A Unit
Image credits: Cstark21
#47 The Giant Tasmanian Freshwater Lobster Is The Largest Freshwater Invertebrate In The World
Image credits: Australian
#48 Chunky Boy
Image credits: Halfang
#49 We're Going To Need A Bigger Hook
Image credits: coreyisthename
#50 Absolute Unit Of A Prawn
Image credits: EncyclopEdith
