Largest Animals

Balaenoptera musculus

The blue whale is the largest animal known to have ever existed, filtering enormous quantities of tiny krill from the ocean through baleen plates as it roams every ocean except the Arctic.

Tyrannosaurus rex

Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest land predators to ever exist, dominating the ecosystems of western North America at the very end of the Cretaceous period roughly 66-68 million years ago.

Loxodonta africana

The African elephant is the largest living land animal, roaming savannas, forests, and deserts across sub-Saharan Africa in tightly-bonded matriarchal herds.

Hippopotamus amphibius

The hippopotamus is one of the largest land mammals, spending most of the day submerged in African rivers and lakes to keep its huge body cool.

Odobenus rosmarus

The walrus is a massive Arctic marine mammal easily identified by its long ivory tusks, thick blubber layer, and distinctive whiskered snout.

Monodon monoceros

The narwhal is an Arctic whale famous for the male's long spiraled tusk, which is actually an enormous protruding canine tooth, earning it the nickname 'unicorn of the sea'.

Bos grunniens

The yak is a large, long-haired bovine adapted to the extreme cold and thin air of the high Himalayan plateau, long domesticated as a vital pack animal.

Crocodylus niloticus

The Nile crocodile is Africa's largest crocodilian and one of the continent's most feared apex predators, ambushing prey at the water's edge across rivers, lakes, and wetlands.

Dermochelys coriacea

The leatherback is the largest sea turtle species in the world and the only one without a hard bony shell, ranging farther into cold water than any other reptile.

Ursus maritimus

The polar bear is the largest land carnivore on Earth, superbly adapted to hunting seals across the sea ice of the Arctic Circle.

Tursiops truncatus

The bottlenose dolphin is one of the most widely-recognized and intelligent marine mammals, found in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.

Camelus dromedarius

The dromedary, or one-humped camel, is a large desert mammal domesticated thousands of years ago and superbly adapted to surviving extreme heat and long stretches without water.