What is the largest mammal in the world? The largest representative of mammals

The most-most mammals - who are they? A lot of amazing mysteries and facts are in Mother Nature. It's only at first glance it seems that you can learn about everything and learn everything. No, it is impossible, just as it is impossible to read all the books. Because the more a person makes discoveries, the more new, much more complex tasks the universe poses to him. The question of which is the largest mammal in the world is no longer relevant - every preschool child knows about it. But nevertheless, to read something new about the amazing creation - the blue whale - is always interesting.

So the legends say

In ancient times, when people sincerely believed that the edge of the earth exists, as there are jealous and vindictive gods, when food was extracted by hunting and fishing, our distant ancestors respected nature and animals with great respect.

Virtually nothing knowing about fauna representatives, they invented wonderful tales, which, thanks to amazing poetry, entered the golden fund of culture and art. The largest representative of mammals, the blue whale, often became the hero of these tales. Often he was assigned the role of such a chthonic monster, which is of great importance in the structure of our world. So, for example, one of the Arab legends says that whale Bahamut, plowing the expanses of the ocean, holds on the mighty back of the bull Kutyut, who in turn supports a huge ruby rock. On this rock there is an angel, and his job is to watch what is happening in the world.

Sea monsters

I would like to note that the ancient seafarers called the whale not only, in fact, the largest mammal in the world, but, in general, any inhabitants of the sea depths, whose dimensions were inspired both by panic horror and involuntary admiration.

There are several medieval treatises on the so-called giant octopus, the hobby of which was the overturning of ships and boats and the devouring of sailors. The same "horrors" were told about the whale, and a little later the Scandinavian people had several interesting stories about the "good" and "evil" sea giants. Evil, hating seamen and fishermen, only did that they sailed the seas and oceans in search of people, and when they found, they did not have mercy ... But the good, on the contrary, tried to protect the person, and if possible help to bring the ship into safe place.

Interest is also a legend about how a certain Benedictine monk, traveling in search of the "promised land", sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, noticed a marvelous island. After praying, the monk descended on what he thought was the earth, built an altar there, and offered prayers to God. And already after, together with his team, the monk sailed for a decent distance, the "island" moved, and ... just swam away. It is noteworthy that in medieval Christian theologians the whale was considered to be the symbol of the "father of lies", but Muslims still believe that the largest mammal on Earth is among the ten lucky people living in paradise.

The most, the most, the most ...

Modern scientists, long ago no longer doubting that the titan of the animal world is just a blue whale, recently discovered a real giant, whose weight is as much as 200 tons, and the size is more than thirty-four meters, which is equal to the height of the nine-story building. Was not that such a huge hulk to the unfortunate monk "mysterious island"? By the way, the heart of the whale weighs about a ton - 700 kilograms, and the language - 4000 kilograms.

Interesting Facts

The blue whale is not only the largest mammal in the world, but also the most mysterious. Until now, scientists do not really know anything about these amazing creatures, which, of course, only fuels interest in them. In particular, the scarcity of information is explained by the fact that whales live in the open ocean, and it is quite difficult to observe their behavior.

However, not so long ago a team of scientists managed to capture the amazing moments of feeding these animals, as well as the way they let their legendary fountains. As it turned out, letting out a jet about fifteen meters high, the whales breathe. They feed near the water surface, and their main diet is krill - the smallest representative of the world of fauna. Funny paradox - a giant of the animal world eats dwarfs! .. In order to exist normally, whales need to eat about four million krill, therefore it is not surprising that they spend a lot of time hunting.

Interesting traits

The largest mammal in the world has truly unique characteristics. So, for example, these massive, powerful creatures are surprisingly graceful and even elegant. Effectively diving into the depths of more than a hundred meters, they can stay there for an hour or more, and swim at a speed of 42 kilometers per hour. The low, strange sounds they make underwater are about 188 decibels. For comparison: the most powerful aircraft "talk" with an intensity of 140 decibels.

Reasonable creatures

Not so long ago, researchers made an interesting discovery: it turns out that the largest mammal in the world is also one of the most intelligent. The intellect of the blue whale inspires respect, that before his speech, then all those who are engaged in observations are simply being bred. It is still impossible to decipher the "conversations" of blue whales, and now it is only known that their "singing" is much more complex, and, if I may say so, meaningful than was believed several years ago. There are a lot of word-like elements in the "speech" of whales, which are very similar to human suggestions. Surprisingly, these "proposals" are constructed in such a way that if desired, one can hear informative phrases. Communicating, whales are looking for a spouse, lost children, inform the water world of their presence, and warn the enemy of their readiness to attack.

And yet? ..

With whales, everything is clear, although, in fact, almost nothing is clear. Huge, peaceful, mysterious, infinitely wise - they will always attract the minds of scientists and just nature lovers. But to solve the riddle of these amazing creatures is hardly possible. And what are the largest mammals in the world?

Probably, the primacy should be given to a powerful African elephant, the dimensions of which reach 8 meters in length and 3.3 meters in height. The weight of this land titanium is about 6 tons. Natural enemies this animal does not have, but small elephants, of course, are defenseless before hyenas, leopards, lions and crocodiles. But it should be borne in mind that elephants jealously guard their children, and there are practically no chances to eat snails from predators ... So the only dangerous enemy of elephants was and will be only a man.

In the land elephant, in addition to the whale, there is another waterfowling competitor - the southern elephant seabird, which today is considered the largest carnivorous animal. The size of these creatures reaches up to three meters, and the weight is 4000 kg.

The largest mammals are always of great interest to those who love and appreciate nature. Watching these creatures, it is impossible not to think about the fact that our world, if people desire, can become a real paradise on earth ...