Top 10 Animal Champions
These animals are champions at something. There are obviously many more that could be added, so if you'd like, see which ones you can track down (or already know of) and add them. How many animal champions can we find?
The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is notable for its size, with larger female individuals growing to 6.1 m (20 ft) in length and 1,905–2,268 kg (4,200–5,000 lb) in weight at maturity. However, most are smaller; males measure 3.4 to 4.0 m (11 to 13 ft), and females measure 4.6 to 4.9 m (15 to 16 ft) on average. According to a 2014 study, the lifespan of great white sharks is estimated to be as long as 70 years or more, well above previous estimates, making it one of the longest lived cartilaginous ...read more. These champions have a bite measured in the 4,000 psi range. The size of the shark has a significant effect on the psi reading, the smaller the shark, the less bite force. Mature Saltwater Crocs have a consistent bite force measured in the 3,700 psi range, so take that into consideration. The mammal with the greatest bite force (unnamed here as it would qualify as its own champion, and may surprise you) has a bite force of less than half that of the Great White and Saltwater Crocs.
The peregrine falcon, also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. At 240 mph in dive, they are royalty among champions. The fastest speed ever recorded in the animal kingdom is just a flip of a switch for this bird of prey. An endangered species as recently as the 1970's, these perfect hunters have made an incredibly quick comeback and are now among the widest ranging creatures on Earth. A huge victory for conservation efforts.
Altitude champions. These geese do a yearly migration from India to Mongolia that takes them directly over the Himilayan mountain range, the highest land mass on Earth. They have been tagged and tracked at altitudes of a staggering 24,000 feet. Climbers on Everest have claimed to have seen them fly over the world's tallest mountain. that's just over 29,000 feet. There is less than 10% of the oxygen available there than there is at sea level. These fascinating creatures have amazed biologists for decades, and much is still left to be discovered, but one thing that has been discovered is that these amazing geese slow their metabolism down significantly to lower their need of oxygen at these tremendous heights, which are unrivaled in the animal kingdom.
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 60 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found - 2 in North America, 9 in Central and South America, and 3 in Australia.
Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any kind of bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrates.
Eagles are also one of America's national symbols. All birds of prey have excellent long distance vision, but eagles stand out. They can clearly see a rabbit (or other intended prey) at a distance of two miles. that's eight times better than humans, for example. That's daytime vision of course. However, they do not fare as well with nighttime vision...
The orca or killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, orcas can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. ...read more. Water has considerable weight/mass, and therefore a great deal of resistant force. Speed swimmers need to be streamlined and also have powerful muscle structure to cut through the forces working against them. For the mammals, this is the champion, at a top speed of 34.5 mph. Sound slow? This majestic creature can swim through the aforementioned forces considerably faster than you, I or any human, can run out of the water. Orcas rock!
One of the most inappropriately named animals, it is clearly a part of the Dolphin lineage.
They are appropriately named. I will repeat a comment I posted on another list: 'Whale', 'dolphin', and 'porpoise' are not scientifically binding terms. 'Dolphins' belong to several families. The 'oceanic dolphin' family, Delphinidae, includes orcas. Delphinidae belong to the toothed whales, Odontoceti; baleen whales are Mysticeti. They all belong to the Cetacea, or whales. Thus an orca is an oceanic dolphin, a toothed whale, and a whale.
There are 2 different types of Sloths, 2 toed and 3 toed, and 6 species of Sloths. I think then the data on them can be considered pretty much universal. Sloths move so slow that algae can and does grow on them. Sloths have a top speed of .003 mph, that's about 16 feet in one hour. Hopefully they don't have to be anywhere soon. The name Sloth means laziness or sluggishness. Eagles and Jaguars are common predators of Sloths, so I guess they can sleep in a bit. Ground Sloths went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Gee, I wonder how? JK... Obviously these creatures have survived a very long time and fill a niche in nature's grand design. They are extremely cool.
HAHAHAHA - Sloths are indeed champions - I think that they're spelt "Sloth" and not "Slouth", though. Still, what a good list!
The kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae. In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus: the red kangaroo, antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, and western grey kangaroo. At an astonishing 44'2", this champion can leap almost 15 yards. For anyone who's ever stood on a Canadian or American football field (for perspective) they will know that's a healthy chunk of real estate. That's a deep out on a WR tree. This animal can leap it from a standing start. Amazing. For comparison, the world record for human broad jump is 12'3".
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat and native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at 80 to 128 km/h (50 to 80 mph) with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being 93 and 98 km/h (58 and 61 mph), and as such has several adaptations ...read more.
The Greyhound is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing game and Greyhound racing. You'll find the fastest dogs are hunting dogs, for obvious reasons, and this sleek and athletic dog is no exception. Many will recognize the Greyhound is often used as a racing dog, again for obvious reasons. However, you may be surprised to find there are a handful of dog species that are rather close to the Greyhound in speed, and could give them a run for their money on any given day.
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 metric tons (196 long tons; 219 short tons), it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can be of various shades of greyish-blue dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. Four subspecies are recognized: B. m. musculus in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B. m. intermedia in the Southern Ocean, B. m. brevicauda (the pygmy blue whale) in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, B. m. indica in the Northern Indian Ocean. There is also a population in the waters off Chile that may constitute ...read more. This is a pretty well-known fact. The enormous blue whale DWARFS anything else that lives in the water, it can weigh almost 400,000 pounds. It may also be the largest animal that ever lived.
Air breathers would be the only ones considered "divers" in the depths of Oceans/Seas, so this marine mammal is our current champion. They have been tracked to a depth of 1.87 miles (the time on this dive was 2 hours and 17 mins.) and since the tracking devices stop working at just under 2 miles deep, its possible they have gone even deeper, with some estimates going to 2.5 miles. Come on, these guys are going to be hard to unseat as champions, I mean, the wreck of the Titanic lies 2.37 miles under the surface of the North Atlantic, for perspective. This is almost unfathomable for a creature that must breath on the surface.
750. Found only in a very small portion of Northern California, this highly complex creature has many unanswered questions associated to it. Counting the legs was the easy part. In labs, they die off rather quickly, leading researchers to believe the lab environment is missing some food source for this Millipede. Also, its important to know that the Tropics are packed with Centipede and Millipede species, and as much of the Tropics biodiversity has yet to be discovered, its possible a new " Most Legs" champion is just waiting to be discovered.
I would have thought the Anaconda, but it is indeed the Reticulated... Anyway, this is one cool looking snake. Thanks for adding.
An octopus (octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, an octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beaked mouth at the center point of the eight limbs. The soft body can radically alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight appendages behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the ...read more. Truly a master of disguise. Can blend into any landscape by not only the ability to change colors but also changing shapes and textures to blend into the surrounding environment. They have even been seen to change shapes to mimic or disguise itself as another specie of animals such as various types of fish and stingrays.
The giraffe is a tall African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant- hoofed herbivorous- on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers ...read more.
The common hippopotamus, or hippo, is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus. Widest gape refers to how much its mouth can open, the hippo canopy its mouth to over a 100 degree angle, compared to a human's about 45 degrees. In addition, the hippo is also the world's largest freshwater mammal, weighting in at about 1.5 to 4 TONS!
Pinniped relates to seals and sea lions, of them all, these guys are the most likely to eat you. There are lots of cases of leopard seals attacking people in Antarctica, like a pair of scientists who had a leopard seal chase them across the ice, or one woman who died after one bit her.
Leopard Seals are cool. I didn't know they were so aggressive towards humans. Thank you for adding
These guys look so cool. Perfect camouflage for their environment. Thanks for adding
This is one impressive fish. Thanks for adding
Officially listed as The longest living vertebrate, thank you admin... These old timers live 300-500 years. Females don't even reach sexual maturity until 150-200 years. that's an awful long childhood. Slow moving creature with an average speed of 0.76 mph, they are nonetheless predators. Its thought that many long living creatures live in the cold waters of the Arctic regions, as the cold would naturally induce slower metabolisms.
Wow I kind of assumed the giant tortoise would the longest living but yeah these are way ahead.
The ostrich or common ostrich is either of two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio, which is in the ratite family. In 2014, the Somali ostrich was recognized as a distinct species.
Another record for the sperm whale. The sperm whale's clicks can reach 230 decibels. They are done in short bursts, and are low frequency. Some are in infrasound, too deep for humans to hear.
The whale shark is the world's largest living shark as well as the largest living fish. Whale sharks grow up to 45 ft. (13.7 m) long, and can weigh as much as 13 tons (11.6 tonnes). Their mouths alone are a whopping 6 ft. (1.8 m) across-big enough to gulp down three percent of their body weight in food ...read more.
African elephants are elephants of the genus Loxodonta. The genus consists of two extant species: the African bush elephant, L. africana, and the smaller African forest elephant, L. cyclotis.One has been confirmed to live 150+ years, and high estimates range up to 200 years. Conservative estimates give a range of 80-155 years. These guys take it easy, as do many long lifed creatures. In fact, this champion can go for a year w/o food or water. Just checking things out.