What is the longest animal on earth. Animals with extraordinary qualities The longest and tallest land animal

There are many kinds of animals in the world of various shapes and colors, and all of them are interesting in their own way. But tell me, have you ever thought about which ones are the longest?

Nature is an amazing thing, but, unfortunately, due to human activity, everything more species animals are included in the Red Book and are on the verge of extinction. It's time to join forces in the fight for their survival! All animals deserve to continue to exist on Earth, because each of the species is unique.

The topic of animal body length is extremely interesting. We didn't even know about the size of many of them! We present you the top 6 longest animals in the world.

6th place. giant shark

This is one of the largest varieties of fish. On average, their body length reaches 20-26 feet (6-8 meters), their colors are gray and brown. most large individual turned out to be a shark caught in Canada in 1851. It was 40.3 feet (12.27 meters) long and weighed 19 tons. Of course, larger specimens may exist in nature, but so far they are not known. This suggests how little we still know about the inhabitants of the ocean depths.

This species is sometimes mistakenly confused with the great white shark. You can tell them apart by the jaw. The giant has large gill slits, its teeth are microscopic, and it is not dangerous to humans. And the great white shark has dagger-sharp fangs.

5th place. Whale shark

The whale shark feeds only on plankton and algae, filtering the water that enters its mouth. The largest specimen discovered is said to have been 61 feet (18 meters) long. He was seen in the water, but could not be caught. It happened somewhere in the 1800s, the exact date is not known. Someone has also been reported to have fished out a 46-foot whale shark, but it has been confirmed maximum length fish was 41.5 feet (12.6 meters), and this weighed more than 12 tons.

Usually whale sharks can be seen in open waters tropical oceans, and they rarely swim in places where the temperature is below 22 degrees Celsius. These animals have pronounced gill slits, which makes them unlike other members of the class. They can only be compared with giant and large-mouthed sharks.

4th place. Sperm whale

This is the largest representative of whales with teeth. The longest sperm whale was caught in the southern part Pacific Ocean in 1933. Its length was 78 feet (24 meters), although, for example, the jaw of one of the sperm whales, presented in National Museum Stories in London, presumably belonged to a larger individual (25 meters). And in the Guinness Book of Records, the maximum length recorded in 1950 is 20.7 meters.

The sperm whale does not normally descend below 7,300 feet, but communicates by clicking, a form of echo sounding.

3rd place. Blue whale

The blue whale is the largest marine mammals in the world. Despite the fact that its length reaches an average of about 98 feet (30 m), one day in 1930 it was possible to catch a larger individual - 108.2 feet (33 meters). The largest whales live in the Southern Ocean (up to 30 m). One copy, discovered in 1909, got into the Guinness Book of Records. Its length was 33.58 meters.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were many blue whales. In the last century, however, they were often hunted by whalers, putting the species in danger of extinction. The blue whale is currently listed in the Red Book.

2nd place. Jellyfish "lion's mane"

This is the largest representative of jellyfish. It usually lives in cold waters. The "lion's mane" has a dome that can reach a meter in diameter, and the tentacles are many times larger. The most big jellyfish was discovered on the coast of Massachusetts Bay in 1870. Its dome was 2.3 meters in diameter, and the tentacles were 121.4 feet (37 meters) long.

In general, the size of jellyfish can vary from very small to those described above. It depends not only on the age of the individual, but also on the living conditions, on whether they were sufficiently favorable for growth and development.

1st place. Tapeworm

So, the first place in the world today is occupied by a tapeworm. The Guinness Book of Records recorded that the longest specimen that people have ever encountered was found in 1864 on the banks of St. Andrews in Fife (UK). The worm was 180 feet (55 m) long and nearly 4 inches (10 cm) wide. Thus, he became the largest animal ever encountered.

This means you don't always have to be overweight and bulky to top the list. On average, the width of such a worm that lives on the coast of Great Britain is from 5 to 10 mm, although it increases slightly with age.

This type of living organism lives in the waters. Lineus longissimus is a tapeworm and is recognized as the longest animal in the world.

The body of this animal can reach 55-60 meters in length. Interesting fact: scientists argue that such an incredible size for this species is completely unnatural. The most that this worm can reach in length is no more than 30 meters.

Lineus longissimus is recognized as the record holder for its ability to grow in length at such a pace. Muscles are the main component of the entire body of these animals. Their purpose is to pump blood through the body of a living being. It is worth noting that this species does not have a heart.

The coloration of juveniles varies from light olive brown to dark brown, in adults - from reddish brown to black. This species is the longest member of the Nemerteans, typically 5 to 15 m, but can reach over 30 m despite having a body diameter of 5–10 mm.

They are voracious predators and scavengers. Their main weapon is a long proboscis, equipped with tiny poisonous hooks. With it, he hunts for small crustaceans and other worms.

During a food shortage, these tapeworms will definitely not disappear. Without harm to their health, they slowly begin to engage in self-discipline, in the truest sense of the word. When the hungry time is over, they are back in shape. Another feature of these worms is the ability to fully recover in case of various damages.

They move like other worms by muscular contractions of the body.

You can meet such a creature in Atlantic waters, off the coast of the British Isles and Norway.

The species was first formally described in 1770 as Ascaris longissima (now Lineus longissimus) by the Norwegian naturalist and bishop Johan Gunnerus. The species belongs to the genus Lineus, described in 1806 by the British naturalist James Sowerby (1757-1822) and includes about 15 species (Sowerby, 1804-1806).

Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animals
Type: Nemertines
Class: Unarmed nemerteans
Detachment: Heteronemertea
Family: Lineidae
Genus: lineus
View: Lineus longissimus (lat. Lineus longissimus ((Gunnerus, 1770))

Instruction

The longest animal on earth is the tapeworm. Its Latin is lineus longissimus. This outwardly unpleasant creature can reach a length of 60 meters. It turns out that the giant tapeworm is twice as long as the largest animal on Earth (the blue whale).

body itself long creation in the world is very thin - no more than 1 centimeter in diameter. This creature has one unique feature: it can be stretched so that it easily breaks all conceivable and unthinkable length records. In other words, in a calm and relaxed state, this worm reaches about 30 meters, but it starts to stretch when it reaches 60 meters. Outwardly, in this state, this worm resembles a long tourniquet.

Young individuals of these creatures are colored olive or dark brown, and adults are reddish brown or c. The giant tapeworm lives along the coasts of northwestern Europe, around the British Isles, in the northeast Atlantic, and along the Norwegian coast to the North and Baltic Seas.

The longest animal on Earth is both a predator and a scavenger. However, judging by the speed of its movement, lineus longissimus is more of a scavenger than a predator. This creature is quite voracious. The worm catches its prey in the following way: it shoots at it with a long tube, on which there are sticky and poisonous hooks.

Lineus longissimus moves with the help of muscular contractions of its body (like other worms). Zoologists, who observed the movement of the longest worm in the world, noted: during movement, it either shrinks or stretches almost twice! The muscles of a tapeworm also perform another function: they pump its blood. The fact is that the giant tapeworm (like all other worms) does not have a heart, so these creatures are considered primitive organisms.

The very first description of this species tapeworms dates back to 1770. Lineus longissimus was described by Norwegian naturalist Johan Gunnerus as Ascaris longissima. Zoologists classify tapeworms as lower worms. Currently, about one thousand species of these animals have been described. It is curious that most of them live in the seas, and not in coastal zones, as does the longest animal in the world.