Fun Trivia » Animals » Miscellaneous Animal Trivia » Animal Records

While blue whales can grow up to 100 feet long with some reported at around 110 feet, there have been lions mane jellyfish reported well over 100 feet with some reports up to 200 feet long. The brontosaurus will max out at around 80 feet. Giant squids can reach around 50 feet. The anaconda can average around 20 to 30 feet long. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Brontosaurus, Anaconda, Giant Squid

The book records the heaviest living dog as an English Mastiff bitch which weighs in at 286 lbs. The heaviest dog ever documented was an Old English Mastiff, which reached a peak weight of 343 lbs in 1989! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Great Dane, Newfoundland, Saint Bernard

In brief bursts, the leatherback turtle can reach an incredible 22 mph (35 km/h). The turtle can easily glide through the water because of its streamlined body structure. The favourite food of the turtle is jellyfish. Their throats have evolved to allow them to swallow down the jellyfish, and with the backward-facing barbs, they make the meal go only one way. Difficulty: Average.

 

Anaconda , Saltwater crocodile, Dubois' sea snake

It can be up to 100 feet long. Difficulty: Hard.

Sea otters have an amazing 1 million hairs per square inch. An adult pelt can average 800 million to 1 billion hairs! The northern fur seal is the second hairiest animal with about 300,000 hairs per square inch. Chinchillas have the highest fur density of any land animal and will have more than 50 hairs coming from a single follicle. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Chinchilla, Gorilla, Northern fur seal

Some scientists may have actually been paid to clock these turbo roaches at UC Berkeley! They found a specimen which was clocked at 3.36 mph. That may not seem so fast...but it's a cockroach! Difficulty: Hard.

 

scarab beetle, praying mantis, Burmese racing snail

The reticulated python averages a little less than five metres in length, but its maximum known length is 10 metres (32.8 ft). The female can weigh anywhere from 75 to 175 kg, and she is slightly larger than the male. Tropical woods in Indonesia, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries are all places where these snakes can be found.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

American alligator, Nile crocodile, African rock python

The Chinese giant salamander grows to an amazing 6 feet long and can live up to 50 years! An olm is also very long for an amphibian but much smaller at 8-12 inches. Olms are one of the few amphibians that will live in a cave. Goliath bullfrogs are 4 to 16 inches and are the world's biggest frog. The goliath bullfrog lives in Western Africa and can leap the length of a small car. The marine toad is the world's largest toad at up to 9 inches and 4 pounds and can eat snakes. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Goliath bullfrog, Marine toad, Olm

There are 30 species of sea horses. One of them, a dwarf sea horse, probably never goes much faster than 0.001 mph. Difficulty: Hard.

 

ocean sunfish, dwarf goby, whale shark

South America is the home of the giant armadillo. The armadillo's claws can reach a maximum length of around eight inches (20 cm). Accordingly, the claw is the longest of any extant mammal, accounting for almost 22% of the body length. In general, the armadillo is a nocturnal animal, feeding at night mainly on termites and occasionally on ants, worms, and spiders.

Difficulty: Hard.

 

Harpy Eagle, Grizzly Bear, African lion

The cheetah can run at this speed over short distances. Difficulty: Hard.

 

45-49mph, 50-54mph, 25-30mph

While it may be related to the guinea pig, the capybara claims top-spot among the rodentia. Growing up to 4.9 ft./1.5 m. and 232 lb./105.4 kg., the highly-sociable animal can sometimes be found in groups of up to 100; they would need a lot of attic space. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Patagonian mara, Nutria , Grasscutter

Tigers can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh 575 pounds. Tigers are also excellent hunters and can stalk prey almost silently. Lions can get to around 9 feet in length and up to 500 pounds. Black panthers and cheetahs, although very large, do not compare with lions and tigers. Difficulty: Average.

 

Lion, Black panther, Cheetah

A Ruppell's vulture collided with a commercial airliner in 1973. The jet was cruising at a lofty 37,000 feet. The vulture didn't make it, but the plane and passengers landed safely. Difficulty: Hard.

 

4,000 feet, 9,000 feet, 4 miles

The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial that exists today. The male is bigger than the female and can grow to a maximum height of 2 metres (6.6 feet); its maximum weight is 90 kg (200 pounds); and its maximum length is roughly ten feet (3 meters). A kangaroo is capable of jumping over 30 feet (9 meters) in one bounce at speeds up to 30 mph (48 kilometres). A group of kangaroos is called a "mob" and can have as many as 50 in one single group. Difficulty: Average.

 

Tasmanian devil, Red-necked wallaby, Eastern grey kangaroo

 

Asian elephant, hare, jackrabbit

The Chinese giant salamander is the big winner here. Few other amphibians even come close to its size. It is considered critically endangered due to habitat loss and over-collecting: it is considered a delicacy and is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Great crested newt, Sagalla caeilian , Mallorcan midwife toad

The African bush elephant can top out at 25 feet long, 14,000 pounds and 13 feet for its shoulder height. The African forest elephant and the Asian elephant, though the same length are a bit shorter and not as heavy. Asian elephants differ from African as they have much smaller ears. Pygmy elephants are much smaller. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Asian elephant, African forest elephant, Pygmy elephant

Yes, there is such a thing as a Yokohama chicken! A rooster owned by a breeder in Japan had a recorded tail length of 34 feet, 9 inches. Difficulty: Hard.

 

peacock, ostrich, emu

The native home of the sloth is Central and South America. Sloths come in two species: one with two toes on its hindfeet and the other with three. Six species of sloths exist: four in the Bradypus genus and two in the Choloepus genus.

Sloths are solitary creatures that travel slowly through the trees. The sloth is primarily an arboreal species but leaves the canopy every four to seven days. The only time the sloth really goes to the ground is to defecate or urinate, or when it is impossible to get to the next tree. It moves a little quicker on the ground than in the canopy, averaging six to eight feet per minute. The leaves of trees, vines, and lianas make up nearly the entirety of the sloth's food.

Difficulty: Hard.

 

Chipmunk, Pygmy slow loris, African pygmy mouse

A wandering albatross' wingspan can reach 3.5m (11' 6"). Difficulty: Average.

 

Emu, Golden Eagle, Ostrich

The Flemish giant is an old breed of rabbit, with a history going back to the 16th century near Ghent, Belgium. They can weigh up to 28 lb./12.7 kg., larger than some dog species. Difficulty: Hard.

 

American blue, Rhinelander , Havana

The barn owl is on every continent except Antarctica. Great horned owls are in North, Central and South America. Spectacled owls are in Mexico, Central America and South America. And the scops owl is in Europe, Asia and Africa. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Great horned owl, Spectacled owl, Common scops owl

Although mice are generally recognised for being little animals, the African pygmy mouse is especially diminutive. This mouse is the tiniest in the world, with a length of 1.2 to 3.1 inches and a weight ranging from 2 to 12 g (0.071 to 0.423 oz). This little fellow lives in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in savannas and grasslands.

The African pygmy mouse possesses several distinctive characteristics. It arranges small pebbles in front of its tunnel and drinks the dew that has accumulated on the pebbles during the night. Because the mouse is so small and vulnerable, if you decide to have one for a pet, it is strongly recommended that you don't handle them, as you may do damage to their internal organs. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Field mouse, Harvest mouse, Yellow-necked mouse

Some sources say the reticulated python is longer, but the anaconda is the largest. Difficulty: Average.

 

cobra, rattlesnake, boa constrictor

The emperor dragonfly is also one of the biggest and most powerful. Southern hawkers are very fast as well, at around 20 mph. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Four spotted chaser dragonfly, Common darter, Southern hawker

Cabbage aphids reproduce asexually and, with unlimited food and no predators, could theoretically create an 809-million-ton mass of offspring every year! That's three times the weight of the whole human population! Difficulty: Hard.

 

box jellyfish, jackrabbit, mayfly

Even though the Australian pelican is medium-sized by pelican standards, it has been known to have the largest bill in the avian world, measuring 50 centimetres (20 in). Colour-wise, the bird is white with black wings and has a pink bill.

An average weight for the pelican is around 4.54 to 7.7 kg (10.0 to 17.0 lb), but it has been known to weigh as much as 13 kg (28.7 lb. The diet of the pelican is mostly fish, but it is also known to eat reptiles, amphibians, pawns, and shrimp. It has been rumoured that small dogs have also been consumed. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Hornbill, Hummingbird, Toucan

A cassowary has powerful legs and knife like claws and has been known to kill humans. Difficulty: Hard.

 

condor, bald eagle, vulture

Some pythons can grow to greater length, but the green anaconda is largest in combined size; up to 25 ft./7.5 m. and 550 lb./250 kg. It is found in northern South America. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

western diamondback rattlesnake , fer-de-lance, carpet snake

The white rhino tops off at 13 feet long and 5,100 pounds. Indian rhinos are very close and 12 1/2 feet long and 5,000 pounds. The Sumatran is actually the smallest at a mere 1,800 pounds. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Sumatran rhino, Black rhino, Indian rhino

Blue whales have been recorded as high as 188 decibels (a jumbo jet taking off measures around 120 decibels). Difficulty: Hard.

 

macaws, gorillas, African elephants

The bumblebee bat from Thailand is the smallest mammal in terms of body length and skull size, the Etruscan shrew is said to be the smallest animal on the planet in terms of weight. The average mass of an Etruscan shrew is just approximately 1.8 g (0.063 oz), but the average mass of a bumblebee bat is 2 g (0.071 oz). Both of these animals are very similar in size and depending on how you measure them, either one could be classed as the smallest mammal on the planet.

You can find the Etruscan shrew throughout Europe and North Africa, all the way to Malaysia. Every day, it consumes twice as much as it weighs. Its primary food source is insects, but it will also occasionally consume small vertebrates and invertebrates.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Mouse lemur , American shrew mole, Pygmy jerboa

The Japanese spider crab lives in the waters near its namesake and can have a leg span of 12 ft./3.8 m. Sounds like a pretty big meal! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Alaskan king crab , Coconut crab, Maine wicked big lobster

At 37,730 feet above sea level, the Ruppell's vulture holds the record as the world's highest-flying bird (note - this is the highest recorded flight). This is possible as this bird's haemoglobin has an extremely high affinity for oxygen, and so lots of the vital gas can be "loaded" into the red blood cells of the vulture, even when oxygen concentrations are low.

The Ruppell's vulture uses its incredible eyesight whilst hunting in the vast open areas of North Africa. Like many other vultures, the Ruppell's vulture will circle prey before devouring the carcass. However, unlike most vultures, its diet consists of dead animals ONLY. Most vultures supplement their diet with live prey from time to time. Another quality which separates the Ruppell's vulture from most other vultures is that it is a very social bird, and will sometimes nest with over 100 other vultures.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

A marsh harrier, A greater kestrel, A crowned eagle

In terms of human life lost, the anopheles mosquito, which carries the malaria parasite, has quite likely been responsible for half of all human deaths (excluding wars and accidents) since the Stone Age. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Indian cobra, rockfish, poison arrow frog

It can be over 40 feet in length. Difficulty: Easy.

 

hammerhead shark, barracuda, sting ray

The ostrich takes the prize in this category. A male ostrich can be 9.2 ft./2.8 m. tall. An ostrich can run at speeds of up to 60.6 mph/97.5km/h, making it the fastest two-legged animal in the world. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Emu, Gentoo penguin , Stork

The Galapagos tortoise is the world's biggest at 4 feet long. Some have lived to be over 170 years old! The aldabra tortoise is close in size to the Galapagos, but so far none have measured larger. Aldabras might be the oldest as some are estimated at over 200 years old. Leatherback turtles are the biggest turtle at 4-6 feet and can weigh as much as 1,800 pounds. Most sea turtles are, unfortunately on the endangered list. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Desert tortoise, Indian star tortoise, Aldabra giant tortoise