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If you’ve ever seen an elephant or giraffe up close, you know these animals can appear massive, but would you believe that some of the animals that have roamed this planet will make even an elephant look tiny in comparison? As you can imagine, prehistoric creatures could make the list on their own, but we’re going to break it down by species and diet to make it a little more interesting. Below we have compiled a list of the longest, tallest and heaviest animals that have ever walked the Earth.
# 10 Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: Jaekelopterus
An aquatic scorpion that lived about 460 million years ago, Jaekelopterus was a sea creature about three yards long, making it the largest insect ever. Can you imagine an insect nine feet long? His exact weight is unknown, but since he was longer than the height of an adult male, we can assume that his average weight was about the same as that of humans.
# 9 Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: The Elephant
It may not top the list, but the elephant is still the largest living herbivorous land mammal. There are several species of elephants, the largest of which can reach heights up to 12 feet and weigh up to 12,000 pounds. Many people think that the woolly mammoth was larger than the animal, but in fact they were about the same size as modern African elephants, they just had a lot more wool and much larger fangs.
# 8 Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: Polar Bear
The largest living land predator is the polar bear. These massive arctic creatures can grow up to eight feet tall. They weigh about one tenth of the largest elephant, or about 1,300 pounds. One interesting fact about them is that they are not actually white. Their fur is actually clean and their skin is black! Unfortunately, these bears have a vulnerable conservation status and could disappear within the next 30 years if climate change continues unchecked.
# 7 Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: Chinese Giant Salamander
The largest living amphibian is the Chinese giant salamander. These animals are about the same size as the average recumbent person, grow to just under six feet in length and weigh just over 110 pounds. These salamanders live underwater and breathe through the skin! However, their number is declining, and their conservation status is endangered.
# 6 Biggest Animals To Ever Walked Earth: Spinosaurus
The title of the largest terrestrial predator that ever lived on Earth belongs to the spinosaurus. This meat-eating dinosaur lived about 90-100 million years ago. It was about 60 feet long, 12 feet high, and weighed at least seven tons. Spinosaurus gets its name from the massive spines that run down its spine. Its head was similar to that of a crocodile, but much larger.
# 5 Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: Shastasaurus
Shastazaurus is the largest marine reptile ever to exist. This carnivore lived in the ocean 200 million years ago and fed mainly on squid. The largest was over 60 feet long. Even the ribcage of the Shastazaurus was nearly seven feet across!
# 4 The Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: Paraceratherium
The largest land mammal was a herbivore, akin to modern rhinos, only much taller and without a horn. Paraceratherium was about 16 feet high and 24 feet long, and its diet consisted primarily of the leaves of tall trees. It is believed that he weighed almost 45,000 pounds, which means that he must have eaten a lot of the leaves! Scientists believe he had a grippy upper lip or trunk, which he probably used to pluck leaves from tall tree branches.
# 2 (tie) The biggest animals to ever walk the Earth: Patagotitan mayorum
Swimsuit Patagotitan possibly
the largest dinosaur ever discovered. This titanosaur was a herbivorous dinosaur that lived about 100 million years ago, with a very long neck and a very long tail. Fossils of Patagotitan were first found in Argentina in 2012. This newly discovered dinosaur was more than 120 feet long from head to tail, about 40 feet longer than the diplodocus, previously thought to be the longest dinosaur. The estimated weight of Patagotitan was about 75 tons. It’s as much as a space shuttle!
# 2 (tie) The biggest animals to ever walk the Earth: Argentinosaurus
Argentinosaurus was also discovered in Argentina back in the 1980s. Based on the bones found, it was about the same length as the Patagotitan. However, some researchers claim that, according to their estimates, the Argentinosaurus probably weighed 20 tons more than the Patagotitan!
# 1 Biggest Animals To Ever Walk the Earth: Blue Whale
Strictly speaking, the largest mammal that has ever existed on Earth does not walk, it swims, but no largest list of animals would be complete without the massive blue whale, considered the heaviest animal ever. Although this rarely happens nowadays due to catching larger individuals, the blue whale can grow up to 100 feet in length. With a heart the size of a small car, these aquatic mammals can weigh up to 200 tons, the equivalent of nearly 400,000 pounds, and more than double the size of the largest dinosaur. Unfortunately, these whales are listed as endangered by the World Wildlife Fund.
Next: 10 Dumbest Animals in the World
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