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The world is an interesting place, full of wonders and incredible sights. There are great cities, vast forests and jungles, sprawling deserts, and deep oceans. All of these places are teeming with life, great and small, mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, plants, fungi, corals, etc. Have you ever wondered what the largest living things on this world were? Let me take you on a safari of the world’s 10 largest organisms. |
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#10 – Thiomargarita namibiensis The largest bacteria in the world are even visible to the naked eye. They are found in the ocean sediments of the continental shelf of Namibia. Their maximum recorded size is 0.75mm (0.03 inch), and they are said to look like tiny pearls. |
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#9 – Chan’s Megastick (Phobaeticus chani) The world’s largest insect is an entomophobe’s worst nightmare. These large critters reach a size of 56cm (22inches). They are very rare, with only a few specimens ever caught in the rainforests of Borneo. |
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#8 – Ostrich (Struthio camelus) The largest of all birds is the ostrich, which lives on the plains of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The largest ostrich recorded was 2.8 meters (9ft) tall and weighed close to 200Kg (440lb). Fun fact – ostriches also lay the largest eggs in the world. |
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#7 – Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) The largest reptile in the world can get to a size of 7 meters (23ft) and weigh as much as 2 metric tons. These large predators roam the waters between Northern Australia and Southern India. They are considered to be the most dangerous of all crocodiles on the planet. |
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#6 – African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana) The African Bush Elephant is the largest land animal, with males reaching a size of 10.7 meters (35ft) long and 4 meters (13ft) tall. They can weigh as much as 7 metric tons. |
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#5 – Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) The largest of all invertebrates, these humongous sea-dwellers can reach sizes of 14 meters (46ft). |
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#4 – Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) The largest fish in the world, the whale shark, is also surprisingly docile and tends to ignore humans completely. These fish can reach a size of 17 meters (56ft), yet they only eat tiny plankton. |
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#3 – Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) The largest animal in the world, the blue whale is 33 meters (110ft) long and weighs as much as 190 metric tons. They are also the largest mammals and largest sea animals, as well as the heaviest animals to have ever lived (including dinosaurs!). |
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#2 – Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) Over a stretch of land covering 0.43km² (106 acres) in Utah, stands a grove of Aspens nicknamed Pando. The trees seem separate, but they all share the same root system and are all genetically identical. |
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#1 – Honey Fungus (Armillaria) Living in the blue mountains of Oregon, U.S.A, the world’s largest living organism is a 3.4km² (2.4miles²) is a fungus. This gigantic mushroom is considered a delicacy in Eastern Europe and Russia, but it is also a menace to plant life, since it feeds on other plants’ roots. It also possesses bioluminescent qualities, making it glow at night like a plant from an alien world. |
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