Although man may be responsible for some of the changes that the Earth is now undergoing, when it comes to physical size, humans are nowhere near being the largest creatures on the planet. While you may think to yourself that of course there are fishes, primates, and other animals that are a lot bigger than humans, in this list we’re going to see some creatures that are larger than trees, boats, and even houses. So get ready because these are the 20 largest animals on Earth.
The Top 20 Largest Animals on Earth.
20. Chinese Rat Snake
Named after their ferocious appetite, which not surprisingly consists mostly of rats, these brightly colored behemoths can grow to nearly 5 meters in length.
19. Hippopotamus
Belonging to the triad of largest land mammals in the world together with the elephant and the rhinoceros, hippos are semi-aquatic creatures that spend most of their time partially submerged in water holes. Don’t let this fool you though. Like icebergs, most of their mass is hidden and if you manage to upset one of them…run. They’re notoriously fast.
18. Bluntnose Sixgill Shark
Also known as the cow shark it can grow to be over 5 meters long. It is actually the largest of its subspecies although this is probably partially due to the fact that most of its closest relatives are extinct.
17. Tiger Shark
Last time it was cow sharks, now its tiger sharks. Growing slightly larger than their counterparts they can be nearly 6 meters long and typically feed on birds, turtles, seals, and even dolphins.
16. King Cobra
At the 16th position in our list of largest animals on earth. Growing to nearly 6 meters in length it’s the largest venomous snake in the world. The name seems appropriate.
15. Giraffe
Undoubtedly the tallest living creature in the world, a giraffe can reach food sources nearly 6 meters off the ground.
14. Nile Crocodile
You’ve probably noticed that this list is heavily populated with sharped toothed reptiles and we are here to reinforce that notion. The Nile crocodile is often said to be the second largest crocodilian in the world after the saltwater crocodile.
13. Great White Shark
One of the most feared predators in the world thanks to Hollywood, Great Whites can grow to be over 6 meters long and yes, they have been known to attack humans, boats, and basically anything else that floats.
12. Saltwater Crocodile
Growing to be over 6 meters long, this breed of crocodile is as big as it gets…and as dangerous too. It’s amongst the largest animals on earth.
11. Southern Elephant Seal
Though seals may look cute in the magazines the Southern Elephant Seal seal may not be the cuddliest creature in the world, especially if you consider that the fact that it’s almost exclusively carnivorous. At no. 11 in our list of the largest animals on earth.
10. Slender-Snouted Gharial
Comparable to the saltwater crocodile, this species resides primarily in Asia and due to its size doesn’t have any real predators. It’s at tenth position in our list of largest animals on earth.
9. Beluga Sturgeon
Living up to 120 years these interesting looking creatures can grow to be nearly 7 meters in length. the ninth amongst the largest animals on earth.
8. Green Anaconda
Found in South America it’s one of the world’s longest snakes and almost certainly the heaviest. Although it’s size is often the most exaggerated in the animal kingdom they do grow to be up to 7 meters long. At no. 8 in our list of the largest animals on earth.
7. Green Sawfish
It’s green and it has a saw on its face. These names don’t leave much to the imagination do they? If there is anything though, it would be the size. Not really a fish at all but rather a ray, they can grow to be nearly 7 meters long.
6. Orca
Another animal made famous by Hollywood, Orcas are usually seen as friendly creatures jumping through hoops at amusement parks. There is a reason they are called killer whales though…because the’re big and they kill things. In fact they kill lots of things – humans, sharks, other whales. Great whites are babies compared to these monsters.
5. Colossal Squid
And people think the giant squid is the biggest of its kind. Wrong. The colossal squid is even bigger. It is so huge that its one eye is larger than a human head.
4. Baird’s Beaked Whale
At first glance it looks like a bottlenose dolphin with an oversized body. The beaked whale is huge though, able to reach over 13 meters in length. The 4th position in our list of largest animals on earth.
3. Sperm Whale
Ok, so this probably won’t come as a surprise but not many things in the world can compete with whales when it comes to being huge…except maybe for other whales. The sperm whale you see here is named after a waxy substance it secrets from its spout called spermaceti and it’s been poached for centuries due to its usefulness in making candles, soap, and even machine oil. Of all the creatures on our list it has the biggest brain proportional to its body, making it one of the smartest as well. It grows to over 20.5 meters and actually feeds on giant or colossal squid.
2. North Pacific Right Whale
With only about 50 left, there used to be tens of thousands of these beasts in the ocean. Unfortunately whaling has taken its toll. It grows slightly larger than the sperm whale but not quite as big as our top contender. It’s the second amongst largest animals on earth.
1. Blue Whale
At 30 meters long and up to 180 tonnes, this guy could swallow three school buses without even stretching. In spite of its size though, they are hard to spot as they remain submerged for extended periods and rarely surface.
The blue whale is the largest living animal to have ever lived on the planet Earth. Blue whales are way larger than the largest dinosaur that ever lived. The largest blue whales can grow as long as 100 feet, which is longer than three school buses put together!
Even though blue whales are huge, they eat tiny creatures known as krill. Krill are tiny shrimplike animals. The whale simply opens its mouth, fills it with krill and salt water, and filters the water out of plates in its mouth called baleen. The blue whale may eat over 8,000 pounds of krill in a single day! (sources; list25, mrnussbaum).
