A giant animal can refer to an entire species which is particularly large, especially when compared to other species in the same family or order. For example, a giant squid is 10 - 13m long, making it the second largest species of squid in existence (the Colossal Squid is larger).

Alternatively, a giant animal can mean simply an animal which is much larger than other members of its species. For example, a guinea pig which was 14 inches long would be a giant guinea pig.

The term 'giant' carries some ambiguitiy; a giant insect is still, compared to a human being, rather small. This article is concerned mainly with animals that are giant in relation to the other species in their family or order.

List of giant animals

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Living animals

• African elephant
• Blue Whale (sea mammal): up to 30 metres in length, weighing 140 tonnes
• Boa constrictor
• Colossal squid (invertebrate): up to 14 metres in length
• Giant clam (sea mollusc): up to 1.5 metres across, weighing 180 kg
• Giant octopus
• Giant rat (rodent): up to or exceeding 3 feet in length
• Giant squid (invertebrate): up to 10 - 13 metres in length
• Giant wombat
• Great albatross (bird): up to 350 cm wingspan
• Japanese spider crab: up to 4 m legspan, weighing 20 kg
• Saltwater crocodile
• Tarantula (spider): leg span of up to 10 inches

Extinct Animals

• Giant Short-faced Bear
• Brachiosaurus
• Giant ant: 15cm
• Irish Elk (deer): up to 2 metres tall at the shoulder
• Moa
• Megalodon
• Teleoceras
• Wooly mammoth

Mythological animals

Some giant animals are legends, or are so rare, that they have been seen only by a few people. Still other giant animals are thought to be purely local folklore and myth.

Notable cryptozoological "giants", whose existence remains unproven include:

• Lusca, Octopus giganteus, a kind of giant octopus, (not to be confused with the North Pacific giant octopus etc. genus Enteroctopus, confirmed specieswhich grow to about thirty feet in length), supposedly live off Bermuda and in blue holes, and which grow over 75 foot long, and are B-movie staples. They are often considered to be the origin of globsters, and in some cases may be misidentified squid. [http://www.geocities.com/capedrevenger/giantoctopus.html
• Lake monsters, such as Nessie and Champ
• Thunderbird
• Big mystery cats (like the Beast of Bodmin)
• The Kraken, another mythological giant octopus.
• Giant Wolf

Evolution

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Giant animals can evolve naturally over millions of years, when food sources are plentiful. When the climate is warmer, cold-blooded animals (like lizards), plants, and insects grow larger, while warm-blooded animals (like mammals) shrink. When the climate is colder, such as in the Ice Ages, warm-blooded animals get larger, while cold-blooded animals evolve smaller. Many of the large animals that exist today are leftovers of the hot and cold periods of the earth. Some examples of leftover animals are the crocodile (from the time of dinosaurs) and the polar bear, the world's largest bear today.

See also

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• Bergmann's rule
• Cope's rule
• Megafauna
• Gigantism

External links

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• Gigantic Animals in Cryptozoology

Animals