Who among animals is the fastest, most dexterous, most intelligent? And what are the records among plants? Find out in this article!
The biggest animal in the world
The record holders among animals in terms of size are blue whales. The blue whale, or, as it is also called, vomited, is not just the largest and heaviest modern animal. It is likely that this huge mammal is the largest animal that has ever lived on earth. The length of his body can reach 33 meters, and the weight exceeds 200 tons. A whale's heart is the size of a car and its tongue is the size of an adult elephant.
Despite their impressive size, whales feed on small cephalopods, fish, crustaceans, krill, and plankton. The exact lifespan of giants is not known for certain. But a whale can live for a long time - about 80-90 years, and the oldest recorded whale lived to the respectable age of 110 years.
Due to the uncontrolled capture of blue giants, there are not so many left on our planet - no more than 10 thousand individuals.
Centenarians
How long did the oldest record holder animals live? Everyone knows that some species of birds and fish can exist for more than a hundred years. NauticalThe Red Sea hedgehog is able to cross the 200-year mark. The most ancient mollusk today is considered to be an individual, the age of 405 years was determined by the rings on the shell.
Another fantastic long-liver is the arctic sponge. This animal leads an attached lifestyle and grows very slowly. A large specimen has been found, estimated to be between 15,000 and 23,000 years old!
But this figure is not the limit. The jellyfish species Turritopsis Nutricula is potentially immortal! Having reached maturity, this amazing animal again turns into a polyp, from which new jellyfish will form in the future. This metamorphosis continues indefinitely, which means that death from old age does not threaten the jellyfish.
The largest land animal
Animal record holders, elephants, are the largest land creatures currently living on the planet. The weight of the male can reach 7 tons, and the height is 3.5 meters. Elephants are remarkable not only for their size, they are also one of the smartest animals.
An example of the high intelligence of elephants is the fact that they are able to recognize their reflection in a mirror. This is an indicator that these animals have self-awareness, self-image, their own "I". In addition to humans, only highly developed species of monkeys and dolphins recognize the reflection in the mirror.
Elephants can use improvised tools, that is, in fact, weapons of labor. For example, these mammals can take branches tofend off flies. Not alien to the giants and creativity. Elephants can draw and have a good ear for music.
The smartest animal
Several species of animals claim to be the most intelligent, but chimpanzees are the closest to humans. Gifted individuals can learn sign language and even make short phrases in it. They have a sense of humor, are able to use words in a figurative sense, and even create new concepts based on known ones. Chimpanzees understand speech addressed to them. These are the most photogenic animals-record holders. Photos of these monkeys can be seen in many collections of original and amazing pictures.
These amazing animals in nature use primitive tools - sticks, leaves, stones - and can combine 2 tools. Chimpanzees break nuts with stones and use thin sticks to extract the kernels, they can sharpen sticks with their teeth and use them for hunting.
The tallest animal
What do the tallest animals look like? Record holders for growth are giraffes. Males can reach a height of 6 meters and a weight of 1.2 tons, while almost one third of the length is the neck.
Step of this majestic animal is 6-8 meters. In order for blood to supply oxygen to the brain of a giraffe, it needs a strong eight-kilogram heart muscle. The animal has high blood pressure and thick blood, and its arteries are thick-walled and equipped with a system of valves.
Giraffe can reachdelicious leaves from the upper branches of trees, but it’s hard for him to drink, he has to kneel down. These giants sleep lying down, bending their flexible neck and resting their heads on the croup. Due to their high growth and sharp eyesight, giraffes can see danger at a distance of two kilometers. They can defend themselves with their front hooves and run at 60 km/h.
The fastest animal
What is the fastest animal on record? The cheetah is able to reach a speed of 65 km / h from a standstill in just two seconds and reach a speed of 130 km / h in a short distance. He catches up with the victim in one jump and instantly kills with a precise bite to the neck. After the meal, the animal leaves the carcass, as it is not able to protect it from other predators.
The cheetah is a flexible, slender animal. These graceful cats are not shy, not prone to aggression towards humans and often resemble dogs in their behavior. There are known cases of domestication of cheetahs. Spotted sprinters communicate with each other with soft yapping and soft bird-like chirps.
The smallest mammal
Animal record holders can be tiny. The pig-nosed bat is often called the bumblebee mouse. This tiny mammal really resembles the size of an insect. The body length of the mouse barely reaches 3 cm, and the weight is 2 grams.
The nose of the animal looks like a small snout, hence the name of the species. These babies live in Myanmar and Thailand, are rare. Animals live in groups, in limestone caves. They are nocturnal and eatinsects.
The smallest bird
Tiny animal record holders often resemble insects. So, a hummingbird-bee is compared with a butterfly, then with a bumblebee. This tiny bird weighs 1.6 g, and its body has a length of 5.7 cm. The crumbs fly at lightning speed and can reach a speed of 80 km / h. Their wings move so fast that you can hear the buzzing. Hummingbirds feed on flower nectar.
Record holders among plants
Record holders of the animal and plant world can surprise. The tallest tree in existence is the Hyperion sequoia. The height of this giant is 115.5 meters. That's taller than a thirty-story building! And the age of the tree is estimated at 700-800 years.
The clonal colony of aspen-shaped poplar in the USA "Pando" is recognized by scientists as the largest living organism on the planet. It's all about the characteristics of poplar reproduction. The tree has a developed root system, and another trunk can grow from the root, a clone of the original tree. And there are already 47 thousand such clones in the grove, they are all genetically identical and have a single root system. The approximate age of "Pando" is 80 thousand years, and the total weight exceeds 6 thousand tons.
The oldest tree today is 4845 years old. This is a bristlecone pine named Methuselah, native to California. Spinosa pines are about 10 meters high, their trunks and branches are mangled, and the bark is often missing. Methuselah was also significantly damaged by tourists who tried to take with them tomemory branch or piece of bark. Now the exact location of the tree is kept secret.
