Nature's giants: World's biggest critters The world’s tallest animal on land is the giraffe. The average male giraffe weighs about 2,600 lbs. and is between 14 and 17 ft. tall. The tallest on record was 20 ft. tall. (REUTERS) The largest living amphibian is the Chinese giant salamander, the largest recorded at 6 feet long. The salamander, critically endangered, rarely reaches that size today – usually they're 4 ft. long and weigh about 60 lbs. (REUTERS) The whale shark is the largest living fish. The largest ever recorded was 41.5 ft. long and the heaviest ever recorded weighed nearly 40 tons. Despite their oversized mouths, the whale shark feeds mainly on plankton and small fish. (REUTERS) The ostrich holds the title for the largest bird. Although flightless, the ostrich generally weights 140 to 290 lbs., though males can reach weights of up to 340 lbs. Ostriches can grow over 9 ft. tall and can run up to 45 mph. (REUTERS) The Kodiak brown bear and the polar bear share the title for the largest land carnivore. The bears are generally 5 feet tall when walking on all fours, but can reach as high as 10 feet when standing on their hind legs. They often weigh as much as 2,200 pounds. (REUTERS) The largest squid and invertebrate is the colossal squid. And the largest of those, caught in 2007 off the coast of Antarctica, weighed 1,091 pounds and was 33 feet long. (AP) The African Bush Elephant is the largest animal on land. They're generally 10 to 11.5 feet tall and weigh 12,000 to 13,000 pounds, although the largest elephant on record was 13 feet tall and weighed 24,000 pounds. (REUTERS) Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Whats App Pin Interest
