The world is full of animals of all kinds, and they come in shapes and colors and they’re all so interesting, but have you ever wondered which are the 6 longest animals in the world?
Nature is a wonderful thing, and sadly, because of human influence, more and more species are going extinct or on the endangered list. This is the moment when an alarm should go off in everyone’s heads, but the truth is it only happens to a small number of people. Efforts to conserve many animals have been underway for decades, some successful, some not so much.
Pixeljoy/Shutterstock.com
Animals come in all shapes and sizes, from the tiniest of all to the large mammals roaming the seas. Some weight a lot, some are long, some are tall, and some have distinctive patterns on their skin or fur. They’re all interesting and we’re going to continue learning a lot about them in the years to come. Meanwhile, you can learn more about the 11 Most Expensive Animals in the World.
When it comes to their length, this is a pretty interesting topic and it’s tough to know for sure because there are specimens out there that may have gone well past the average size known for its species. For the sake of this list, we’re going to go with the longest specimens ever found because that’s the best way to go about things.
So, without further ado, here are the 6 longest animals in the world.
6. Basking Shark
The basking shark is one of the largest living fish, following the whale shark. On average, basking sharks reach somewhere between 20 and 26 feet (6-8 meters), and they’re gray and brown in color. The largest specimen ever found was caught back in 1851 in Canada and had a total length of 40.3 feet (12.27 meters) and weighed about 19 tons. Of course, such specimens may very well still roam the seas, but since they haven’t been caught we don’t know about them. Then again, considering just how much we know about our oceans, that’s no surprise.
These sharks are often mistaken for great white sharks, but you can tell them apart by their jaws. The basking shark has a cavernous jaw and obvious gill slits, while the great whites have teeth like daggers.
5. Whale Shark
The whale shark is a filter feeding shark, the largest known from the fish species. The largest specimen ever encountered is said to have had over 61 feet, or 18 meters, although data isn’t quite reliable since it happened in the 1800s. Aside from that one, there are other claims of large individuals measuring over 46 feet, although the largest confirmed measurement was of 41.5 feet (12.6 meters) and over 12 tons.
Usually, the whale shark can be found in open waters in the tropical oceans and they rarely go in waters below 72 F (22 Celsius). Their mouths are quite large and they have filter feeders, something that’s quite rare, meaning that it’s only available in two other sharks – the basking shark we talked about already and megamouth.
4. Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, also known as cachalot, is the largest whale with teeth. The largest individual ever measured was caught in the South Pacific in 1933 and it had over 78 feet (24 meters), although the jaw of the specimen currently in the Natural History Museum in London is believed to have belonged to an individual measuring 25.6 meters. The Guinness Records marks a captured specimen from back in 1950 which measured 20.7 meters in length.
The sperm whale commonly dives to depths of over 7,300 feet and communicates via clicking, which is also a form of echolocation.
3. Blue Whale
Up next in our list of longest animals in the world is the blue whale which is the largest marine mammal in the world. Although on average it measures about 98 feet (30 meters) in length, one individual caught back in 1930 measured 108.2 feet (33 meters). Most of the individuals caught measuring over 30 meters until 1949 were caught in the Southern Ocean. The Guinness Records notes a female found in 1909 measuring as much as 33.58 meters.
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, blue whales, much like all other species, were abundant. In the past century, however, they’ve been hunted almost to extinction by whalers. The blue whale is currently marked as “endangered”.
2. Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
Known as the giant jellyfish, this is the largest specimen of jellyfish. No wonder it’s this high in our list of longest animals in the world. Usually found in cold waters, this giant jellyfish has a bell with a diameter measuring several meters, while the tentacles are even longer. In fact, the largest specimen found washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay back in 1870 and its bell measured 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 meters) and the tentacles 121.4 feet (37 meters).
Of course, the average lion’s mane jellyfish varies in size, going from tiny specimen to those the size we mentioned above. It’s also related to the age of the individual, but also with the way they evolved and if they had the best conditions to grow to such sizes.
1. Bootlace worm
The longest animal the world is considered to be the Bootlace worm. The Guinness World Record book notes that the longest specimen ever encountered was found in 1864 on the shores of St Andrews in Fife, UK. The worm measured 180 feet (55 m) and nearly 4 inches in width (10 cm), making it the largest animal ever found.
This proves that in the animal kingdom you don’t have to weight the most or have an imposing figure in order to top the charts. Commonly found along the coasts of Britain, the bootlace worm usually has a width of about 5 to 10 millimeters, although it can grow quite long.
That being said, these are the 6 longest animals in the world.
