25 Largest Animals on Earth

Spanning up to 4 meters the Ocean Sunfish is not only famous for being huge and heavy but also for its interesting shape. Its prey consists mainly of jellyfish…lots and lots of jellyfish.

Also known as the Indian bison the Gaur is much larger than its American counterparts, especially when you count the hump protruding from its back.

If you live in the southeastern United States then you are already familiar with the big toothy grin of the American Alligator. Although it doesn’t usually prey on humans, its definitely big enough to do so, and will occasionally exercise that ability. Normally though its diet consist of small animals, birds, and other marsh dwellers.

Although long extinct, standing at up to 15 feet in height this was at one point the tallest elephant species in the world. It’s probably safe to assume that its diet consisted of more than just peanuts!

A bit smaller than the hippopotamus (#19), the White Rhinoceros has long been the target of African poachers seeking its horn, which is said to cure illnesses and as of today it is one of only 5 rhinoceros species still in existence.

Named after their ferocious appetite, which not surprisingly consists mostly of rats, these brightly colored behemoths can grow to nearly 5 meters in length.

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.

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.

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.

Growing to nearly 6 meters in length it’s the largest venomous snake in the world. The name seems appropriate.

Undoubtedly the tallest living creature in the world, a giraffe can reach food sources nearly 6 meters off the ground.

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.

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.

Growing to be over 6 meters long, this breed of crocodile is as big as it gets…and as dangerous too.

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.

Comparable to the saltwater crocodile, this species resides primarily in Asia and due to its size doesn’t have any real predators.

Living up to 120 years these interesting looking creatures can grow to be nearly 7 meters in length.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.