Today, the blue whale is not only the largest animal in the world, but also the largest animal that ever existed on planet Earth. There is a hypothesis that the herbivorous dinosaur from the sauropod group Amphitelia is the largest animal, which is almost 10 meters longer than a whale, but its existence has not been proven.
Instructions
Step 1
The extinct dinosaur Amphitelia is described from a fragment of a single dilapidated vertebra, so its size and the very existence of this dinosaur are in doubt. According to calculations, its length was from 40 to 62 meters, and its weight was up to 155 tons. Scientific classification: kingdom - animals, type - chordates, class - contiguous, detachment - lizards, infraorders - sauropods, family - diplopoids, genus - amphicoelias.
Step 2
The blue whale is a modern marine animal, the length of which reaches 33 meters, and the mass can exceed 150 tons. Scientific classification: domain - eukaryotes, kingdom - animals, type - chordates, class - mammals, detachment - cetaceans, family - minke whales, genus - minke whales, species - blue whale. It feeds on plankton filtered through a lamellar whalebone: the basis of food is krill, less often larger crustaceans, small slaves and cephalopods. There are four subspecies of blue whale - northern, southern, pygmy and Indian. They differ slightly in size and latitude. The blue whale is found throughout the world's oceans. Whales rarely gather in small groups; single individuals are more common. By 1960, thanks to whaling, the blue whale was on the verge of extinction. To date, their total number does not exceed 10,000 individuals. In blue whales, females are much larger than males; it is believed that whales (blues) were previously larger than modern individuals. Their eyesight and sense of smell are poor. Hearing and touch are well developed. The weight of the tongue is 4 tons, and the size of the pharynx is only 10 cm in diameter. The lung volume exceeds 3 thousand liters. Large individuals have a blood volume of over 8 thousand liters. The heart of a blue whale is the largest in the entire animal kingdom and its weight is about one ton, and its pulse is 5 - 10 beats per minute. Females give birth once every 2 years, and pregnancy lasts 11 months. However, population growth cannot compensate for its decline. The born baby weighs about 2-3 tons and reaches 6-8 meters in length. The cub feeds on mother's milk for 7 months and grows up to 16 meters during this period. Whales reach physical maturity by the age of 15, and live up to 80 - 90 years.
Step 3
The largest land animal today is considered to be the African elephant. The maximum recorded weight was 12.24 tons, and the height at the shoulders was 3.96 meters. Scientific classification: domain - eukaryotes, kingdom - animals, type - chordates, class - mammals, detachment - proboscis, family - elephants, genus - African elephants. They live in herds of up to 100 individuals, headed by mature females. Males keep one by one. The upper lip of elephants fused with the nose and a unique organ was formed - the trunk. With its help, elephants breathe, drink, get food, express emotions, get rid of parasites, protect themselves and bathe. Elephants are herbivores, one elephant eats about 100 kg of grass, shrubs, roots and branches of trees a day. To date, war has been declared against poaching as the number of elephants is rapidly declining. Distributed throughout Africa. Reproduction is not associated with the seasons, pregnancy lasts 22 months. One female gives birth to about 9 elephants in a lifetime. A newborn baby elephant weighs about 100 kg, reaching 1 meter at the shoulders. They reach sexual maturity by the age of 12 - 20, and live for about 70 years.
