Speaking of the largest animals in the world, it is worth noting immediately that over the past millions of years, the fauna of the planet has been greatly crushed. But they died out - the reasons can be judged for a long time.

Let us leave these arguments to scientists, and plunge into the study of those living beings that are still alive today, and can greatly surprise with their size.

Fifth place - polar bear

Anyone who considers polar bears not large enough to compete with other large representatives of the fauna of the planet, simply did not see them and could not appreciate their size. Polar clubfoots have up to 1.5 meters at the withers, and standing on its hind legs, such a bear can have a height of up to 3.39 meters. The weight of the animal reaches 800 kg. Females are slightly smaller than males, but this does not make them less formidable creatures. These animals live in the northern polar latitudes, feed on aquatic mammals, fish. They swim beautifully, are not afraid of the cold, endowed with tremendous physical strength.

This is the largest predator on the planet.whose paw blow is capable of killing a person. And they also have some features that allow them to successfully survive in the cold, even after swimming in ice water. Bears have a streamlined body, membranes that help them swim. Subcutaneous fat prevents them from overcooling, and the coat instantly dries out even in the cold. Not everyone knows, but under the white fur of a bear hides black skin,which is perfectly warmed up by the polar sun. The polar bear is one of the most dangerous predators on the planet. Our article describes why polar bears do not eat penguins.

Fourth place - hippopotamus

Hippopotamus is a relative of pigs, a large artiodactyl living in Africa. Creatures lead a semi-aquatic lifestyle, usually in the daytime they are in the water, and at dusk and at night they go to land to enjoy the coastal grass. The length of this animal is up to 5.4 meters in males, females are usually smaller.

Height is about 1.5 meters and more at the withers. Hippos are herbivores, but their nature is very cruel - males often attack people, and local residents try unnecessarily not to approach herds swimming in local muddy ponds.

Third place - rhino

The height of the rhino at the withers reaches 2 meters, and the largest are white rhinos. The body reaches a length of 5 meters, and the weight is equal to 3-4 tons. This is another herbivore with a very unpleasant disposition that you should not approach in the wild, attempts to attack people are recorded annually, and in most cases males are aggressive. In addition to the white rhino, there are black, Sumatran and other species that are smaller.

Second place - elephant

Thinking about the largest animals of the planet, many people primarily remember the elephant. And this is true - the African elephant is the largest land animal, having an impressive weight of 4000 kg, and reaching at the withers 3.5 meters. His extinct relatives of the mammoth reached 4 meters at the withers, and the Indian elephant grows to 3 meters, slightly inferior to the African counterpart. These are exceptionally smart animals - the Asian elephant is easy to train and serves people by performing various tasks. The African elephant is not subject to trainingHowever, he also lives in family groups, where complex relationships can be traced.

Elephants are slowly breeding animals, and in their entire life, which can last more than a hundred years, the female brings no more than 10-12 cubs. Our article describes in more detail how the African elephant is different from the Asian.

Tallest animal in the world

The tallest animal in the world is a giraffe - Its long neck allows you to have no doubt about it. The height of an adult giraffe from hoofs to head is up to 6 meters, although the growth at the withers is not so big, amounting to no more than 3 meters. The long neck of a giraffe doubles its growth, and many people would be interested to know how many vertebrae are in it. In fact, they are exactly the same as other mammals - 7 pieces.

However, they are very elongated, and therefore the neck of the giraffe is not flexible. Such a significant length of the neck has led to many changes in the body of this animal - for example, a giraffe has to take 20 breaths per minute, even in a calm state, when a person has enough and 15. A special system allows you to maintain the necessary blood pressure and provide blood to the brain of the animal.Problems meet him at every step, and even the run of this creation looks very comical.

So, the tallest animals on the planet are the polar bear, hippo, rhino, elephant and giraffe. But these are only land mammals, and there are other large creatures in the world. This is a blue whale that lives in the ocean from the tropics to the northern latitudes, it is an African ostrich, also a very large creature. And all this - not to mention the extinct representatives of the fauna. But we will talk about all of them separately, as part of another article - the top 5.