Have you ever been told not to judge a book by its cover? The saying couldn't be better for the animals listed below.
Animals come and in all shapes and sizes, just like people. Some animals though are distinguished mostly by their weight. Their weight determines their survival and is based on their diet, genetical makeup, environment, and evolution. Stay tuned to find out which animal is crowned as the heaviest and which animal will surprise you as the smallest.
The Anaconda Is Heavier Than Six 10-Year-Olds
The green anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world and can weigh 500 pounds! It extends 30 feet long, which is like putting six 10-year-olds lying head to toe together. The snake would still likely be heavier than all six kids combined!
Don't actually try to measure the snake with kids because anacondas do practice cannibalism. They kill their prey by squeezing it until it can't breathe anymore. Then, they eat it by swallowing it whole.
The Elusive Giant Squid is Bigger Than A Bus
The largest squid ever found weighed over a tonne and extended 50 feet. That's bigger than a bus! Making up that weight is a large head, eight arms and two tentacles that are used to grab prey.
Unfortunately, little is known about giant squids because they live in very deep and cold water that scientists and divers can't access easily. The known data is based on the remains that appear on beaches around the world from time to time.
A Blue whale's Tongue Weighs As Much As An Elephant
We have a winner! The Blue whale is the biggest and fattest of them all. Its tongue alone weighs up to 8000 pounds, or as much as an elephant. Even its heart weighs as much as a car and can be detected from two miles away!
When you add all its weight of almost 200 tons together, it can be as much as 23 elephants, 230 cows, or 1800 men! It is also the animal with the highest percentage of body fat on land and sea.
Pigs Double Their Weight In One Week
At birth, a pig only weighs about 2.5 pounds. That weight doubles in their first week. As they become adults, pigs can grow to weigh 700 pounds and more! Usually, they'll weigh between 300 and 700 pounds and still not be overweight.
At 100 pounds, a pig is already at the height of a 40-pound dog and continues to grow two feet tall. The record for the largest pig is held 'Big Bill' who 2,552 pounds and was nine feet long.
A Camel May Not Look Fat But It Is
Despite the common belief, camels don't store water in their hump. It's actually full of fat. Their hump can store 80 pounds of fat! If a camel can't find food for a long period of time, they use their hump as an emergency food supply.
Unlike other animals, a camel can survive a while without food and water and can afford to lose 20-25 percent of water before becoming dehydrated. In adulthood, camels can weigh more than 1,500 pounds and extend to seven feet tall with their hump.
Giraffes Carry Most of Their Weight in Their Necks
Giraffes take the crown for the tallest animal. Thanks to their long neck they can reach 20 feet in height. Their neck makes up 600 pounds out of their total body weight of 1500 pounds. Even their heart is long and heavy, measuring two feet and weighing 25 pounds.
Surprisingly, giraffes still only have seven vertebrae in their necks – which is the exact same number of bones humans have in their necks!
African Elephants Are The Largest Animal That Walks On Earth
An elephant can grow to weigh 12,000 pounds and measure 11 feet in height. To sustain itself it eats about six hundred pounds of food a day which takes up four percent of the elephant's total body weight. Despite their scary size, elephants only chew on plants, making them herbivores.
The African Elephants have very large ears that look like the continent of Africa which adds to their weight. This shape also differentiates them from Asian elephants.
The Hummingbird Weighs Less Than A Penny
A U.S. penny weighs about 2.5 grams, or about as much as a hummingbird. A hummingbird's egg weighs 10 percent of its mother's weight but is still smaller than a jelly bean!
The bird needs to consume about half of its weight in sugar five to eight times a day to gain energy. They get their intake from the nectar of flowers so they can keep their wings beating fast. In fact, about 30 percent of the bird's weight is in its chest muscles.
The Ostrich Lays The Largest Egg In The World
When an ostrich stands up tall it reaches 10 feet and weighs up to 400 pounds, making it the largest living bird today. Its eggs naturally end up also being the largest eggs in the world.
An average ostrich egg weighs 3.5 pounds but can weigh as much as 5 pounds and be 9 inches long. Yet, this only makes about one percent of the mother's body weight. Usually, an ostrich lays 30-50 eggs in its breeding season.
The Smallest Fish in The World Is The Size Of Your Pinky Fingernail
The world's smallest fish is known as the dwarf pygmy goby or the Luzon goby. It only reaches half an inch and weighs 4 milligrams even when it is fully grown. The fish comes from the Philippines.
Just like its family of gobies, this fish is a carnivore. Despite its teeny weight, it eats insects, eggs, mussels, larva, and plankton. Some also collect and eat parasites off of the body of large fish.
A Leatherback Sea Turtle Is Heavier Than 11 Men
This is the world's largest turtle and it weighs as much as 2000 pounds while being only six feet long. The leatherback sea turtle is equipped with a thick layer of insulating fat and a unique blood system. This keeps their body warmer than the water surrounding them so that they can survive in very cold water.
The leatherback shell isn't hard like it looks. It's actually made of a leathery material that is soft and flexible.
The Rhinoceros Has A Big Body With A Small Brain
Can you imagine a 6-foot tall animal that weighs thousands of pounds running straight at you? Then don't spook them. Although the rhino has no natural predators, if they feel threatened they will charge towards whatever spooked them.
Relative to their heavyweight of 2200 pounds, rhinos have tiny brains that only weigh 400 – 600 grams. The white rhino is the biggest kind and can weigh as much as 7700 pounds, but still have the same small-sized brain.
Brown Bears Are Actually Considered Obese
Brown bears can gain a huge amount of fat to the point of obesity and still not develop diabetes. Averaging about 800 pounds, these bears gain the most weight in the summer while they are hibernating.
Brown bears love to eat fish and will put in the work to get it. In places like Alaska and Canada, they stand in rivers and catch their prey with their mouth or paws. Alaska holds a yearly competition where people can vote for the bear they think gained the most weight that season.
The World's Smallest Cat Comes From Singapore
The smallest cat is the Singapuras. A healthy female weighs just four pounds while the male can weight around six pounds. Even though it's small and has a delicate look, Singapuras are considered muscular. Sometimes, they don't reach their full size until they are two years old.
This cat is one of the lesser-known breeds. Like the name hints, they originate from Singapore. The breed is so beloved there that the Singaporean government named it a "national living treasure" in 1991.
Asian Elephants Require 50 Gallons Of Water For Their Weight
Just like African Elephants, Asian Elephants can weigh 12 000 pounds. The female elephants eat about 330 pounds of food and stay refreshed with 50 gallons of water every day. Males eat nearly twice that!
Unlike African elephants, only male Asian elephants can grow tusks, making them sometimes a little lighter. Their heavy overall weight is healthy for them and allows them to live up to 60 years.
Elephant Seals Can Weigh Over 200 Ton
The elephant seal ideally stores about 40 percent body fat, allowing it to gain up to 8,800 pounds. Relatively, that makes it one of the fattest animals on the planet. Their weight doesn't prevent them from being able to stay underwater for up to 2 hours and even dive a mile deep.
Males can be eight times heavier, and twice as long as females. The record-sized elephant seal lived up to February of 1913 in South Georgia, weighing 11,000 pounds and measuring almost 23 feet in length.
Gaur Is The Tallest Species Of Wild Cattle
The largest member of the bovine family is the gaur. The gaur is the tallest, strongest type of cattle in the world, and can grow to weigh almost 2000 pounds!
Gaurs in India are fairly modest in size compared to others around the rest of Southeast Asia. Indian male gaurs weigh about 1,800 pounds while females sit at 1,500. Gaurs in other countries like China can get even larger and reach 2,600 pounds.
A Hippopotamus Can Eat 150 Pounds Of Grass A Day
The hippopotamus keeps its cool in the water all day long and only comes out at night to eat. Tired out from swimming all day, they feast on 150 pounds of grass to maintain their 8000 pounds. That's about three small cars!
Despite being giants, the hippos make great swimmers that can hold their breather underwater for a whole five minutes. To stay submerged and keep water out, they fold shut their ears and nostrils.
The World's Smallest Monkey Fits Into The Palm Of Your Hand
The smallest monkey in the world is the Pygmy Marmoset, which weighs less than four ounces. You can find this money in rainforests in Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
This monkey's tail is longer than its whole body. The body, not including the tail, measures about six inches. Unlike other animals, the females are usually slightly larger than the males. Both sexes still only weigh 15 grams at birth!
The World's Smallest Mammal Weighs Less Than A Dime
Now for the smallest of them all, the Etruscan Shrew. it's so tiny that it only weighs two grams or less. That's less than a dime! Even in length, it only ever grows to measure about two inches.
Even though they're tiny, this animal has a huge appetite and can eat twice their body weight every day! If you're wondering what their secret is, it's because they have a really fast metabolism. Their heart beats at 25 beats per second versus humans, whose hearts beat at 72 beats per minute.
