15 of the Largest Animals in the World «TwistedSifter The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. At 30 metres (98 ft) in length and 180 metric tons (200 short tons) or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed. The Blue Whale’s tongue weighs around 2.7 metric tons (5,952 pounds), about the size of an average Asian Elephant and its heart weighs about 600 kg (1,300 lb) and is the largest known in any animal. Not only is the heart similar size to a mini-cooper car but also comparable in weight. The Blue Whale is thought to feed almost exclusively on small, shrimp-like creatures called Krill. During the summer feeding season the Blue Whale gorges itself, consuming an astounding 3.6 metric tons (7,900 pounds) or more each day. This means it may eat up to 40 million krill a day with a daily calorie requirement of an adult Blue Whale in the region of 1.5 million.

[ Source ] The Heaviest Land Animal in the World: The African Bush Elephant The African Bush Elephant is the largest living terrestrial (land) animal, with males reaching 6 to 7.5 metres (19.7 to 24.6 ft) in length, 3.3 metres (10.8 ft) in height at the shoulder, and weighing 6 t (13,000 lb). Females are much smaller, reaching 5.4 to 6.9 metres (17.7 to 22.6 ft) in length, 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) in height at the shoulder, and weighing 3 t (6,600 lb). The adult African bush elephant generally has no natural predators due to its great size, but the calves (especially the newborn) are vulnerable to lion and crocodile attacks, and (rarely) to leopard and hyena attacks. [ Source ] The Tallest Land Animal in the World: The Giraffe Photograph by Luca Galuzzi – The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal and the tallest living terrestrial animal in the world.

It stands 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall and has an average weight of 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) for males and 830 kg (1,800 lb) for females. The giraffe has an extremely elongated neck, which can be over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length, accounting for nearly half of the animal’s vertical height. The long neck results from a disproportionate lengthening of the cervical vertebrae, not from the addition of more vertebrae. [ Source ] The Largest Carnivora in the World: The Southern Elephant Seal Photograph by DAVID SHACKELFORD The Southern elephant seal is the largest carnivore living today. This seals’ size shows extreme sexual dimorphism, possibly the largest of any mammal, with the males typically five to six times heavier than the females.

While the females average 400 to 900 kilograms (880 to 2,000 lb) and 2.6 to 3 meters (8.5 to 9.8 ft) long, the bulls average 2,200 to 4,000 kilograms (4,900 to 8,800 lb) and 4.5 to 5.8 meters (15 to 19 ft) long. The record-sized bull, shot in Possession Bay, South Georgia on February 28, 1913, measured 6.85 meters (22.5 ft) long and was estimated to weigh 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb). Southern elephant seals dive repeatedly, each time for more than twenty minutes, to hunt their prey—squid and fish— at depths of 400 to 1,000 meters (1,300 to 3,300 ft). The documented diving records for the seals are nearly two hours for the duration, and more than 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) in depth.

[ Source ] The diverse order Carnivora includes over 280 species of placental mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word “carnivore” (often popularly applied to members of this group) can refer to any meat-eating organism. Carnivorans are the most diverse in size of any mammalian order, ranging from the least weasel (Mustela nivalis), at as little as 25 grams (0.88 oz) and 11 centimetres (4.3 in), to the polar bear and southern elephant seal. [ Source ] The Largest Reptile in the World: The Saltwater Crocodile The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), is the largest of all living reptiles. It is found in suitable habitats from Northern Australia through Southeast Asia to the eastern coast of India. An adult male saltwater crocodile’s weight is 409 to 1,000 kilograms (900–2,200 lb) and length is normally 4.1 to 5.5 metres (13–18 ft).

However, mature males can exceed 6 metres (20 ft) and weigh more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) and this species is the only extant crocodilian to regularly reach or exceed 4.8 metres (16 ft). The saltwater crocodile is an opportunistic apex predator capable of taking nearly any animal that enters its territory, either in the water or on dry land. [ Source ] The Largest Bats in the World: The Giant golden-crowned flying fox Golden Crowned Flying Fox | Photograph by Latorilla Spectacled Flying Fox | Photograph by Mnolf The largest bat species is the Giant golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus), an endangered fruit bat from the rainforests of the Philippines that is part of the megabat family. The maximum size is believed to approach 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), 55 cm (22 in) long, and the wingspan may be almost 1.8 m (5.9 ft). The Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus) is smaller in body mass and length, but it has been known to exceed the Golden-crowned species in wingspan.

Specimens have been verified to 1.83 m (6.0 ft) and possibly up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in wingspan. [ Source ] Photograph by Library of Congress Osteichthyes, also called bony fish, are a taxonomic group of fish that have bony, as opposed to cartilaginous, skeletons. The vast majority of fish are osteichthyes, which is an extremely diverse and abundant group consisting of over 29,000 species. It is the largest class of vertebrates in existence today. The largest living bony fish is the widely distributed ocean sunfish (Mola mola). It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally.

The mature ocean sunfish has an average length of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), a fin-to-fin length of 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and an average weight of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb), although individuals up to 3.3 m (10.8 ft) in length 4.2 m (14 ft) across the fins and weighing up to 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) have been observed. [ Source ] The Heaviest Flying Bird in the World: The Dalmatian Pelican Photograph by Doug Janson The Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is a member of the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe to India and China in swamps and shallow lakes. This is the largest of the pelicans, averaging 160–180 cm (63-70 inches) in length, 11–15 kg (24-33 lbs) in weight and just over 3 m (10 ft) in wingspan.

With a mean weight of 11.5 kg (25 lb), it is the world’s heaviest flying bird species on average, although large male bustards and swans can exceed the pelican in maximum weight. [ Source ] Blue Whales, Blue Whale Pictures, Blue Whale Facts - National Geographic Pod Did you know? When a blue whale exhales, the spray from its blowhole can reach nearly 30 ft (9m) into the air. Size relative to a bus: Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth. These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and upwards of 200 tons (181 metric tons). Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their hearts, as much as an automobile. Blue whales reach these mind-boggling dimensions on a diet composed nearly exclusively of tiny shrimplike animals called krill. During certain times of the year, a single adult blue whale consumes about 4 tons (3.6 metric tons) of krill a day.

Blue whales are baleen whales, which means they have fringed plates of fingernail-like material, called baleen, attached to their upper jaws. The giant animals feed by first gulping an enormous mouthful of water, expanding the pleated skin on their throat and belly to take it in. Then the whale's massive tongue forces the water out through the thin, overlapping baleen plates. Thousands of krill are left behind—and then swallowed. Blue whales look true blue underwater, but on the surface their coloring is more a mottled blue-gray. Their underbellies take on a yellowish hue from the millions of microorganisms that take up residence in their skin. The blue whale has a broad, flat head and a long, tapered body that ends in wide, triangular flukes. Behavior Blue whales live in all the world's oceans occasionally swimming in small groups but usually alone or in pairs. They often spend summers feeding in polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations towards the Equator as winter arrives. These graceful swimmers cruise the ocean at more than five miles an hour (eight kilometers an hour), but accelerate to more than 20 miles an hour (32 kilometers an hour) when they are agitated.

Blue whales are among the loudest animals on the planet. They emit a series of pulses, groans, and moans, and it’s thought that, in good conditions, blue whales can hear each other up to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away. Scientists think they use these vocalizations not only to communicate, but, along with their excellent hearing, to sonar-navigate the lightless ocean depths. Blue whale calves enter the world already ranking among the planet's largest creatures. After about a year inside its mother's womb, a baby blue whale emerges weighing up to 3 tons (2.7 metric tons) and stretching to 25 feet (8 meters). It gorges on nothing but mother's milk and gains about 200 pounds (91 kilograms) every day for its first year. Conservation Blue whales are among Earth's longest-lived animals. Scientists have discovered that by counting the layers of a deceased whale's waxlike earplugs, they can get a close estimate of the animal's age. The oldest blue whale found using this method was determined to be around 110 years old. Average lifespan is estimated at around 80 to 90 years.

Between 10,000 and 25,000 blue whales are believed to still swim the world's oceans. Aggressive hunting in the 1900s by whalers seeking whale oil drove them to the brink of extinction. Between 1900 and the mid-1960s, some 360,000 blue whales were slaughtered. They finally came under protection with the 1966 International Whaling Commission, but they've managed only a minor recovery since then. Blue whales have few predators but are known to fall victim to attacks by sharks and killer whales, and many are injured or die each year from impacts with large ships. Blue whales are currently classified as endangered on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List. National Marine Mammal Laboratory How many blue whales are there? The worldwide blue whale population is unknown however, blue whales are considered endangered according to the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Blue whales were hunted extensively for their large quantities of baleen, blubber, and meat. Although blue whales are protected, their populations show few signs of recovery. You can read more about blue whale stocks in the NMFS Alaska and Atlantic stock assessment reports. .

How can I identify a blue whale? They are huge! Blue whales in the Antarctic reportedly reached lengths of 110 feet (33.5 meters), however most probably grow to 80-90 feet (24.4-27.4 meters) long. Female blue whales are generally larger than males, and northern hemisphere blue whales are generally smaller than those in the southern hemisphere. Blue whales are light bluish gray on their dorsal side and mottled gray whitish on their bellies. Some have yellowish bellies. How well can a blue whale see or hear? It is hard to know the answer to this question since blue whales are so big and live in the open ocean. It is thought that baleen whales (including blue whales) probably have excellent hearing, especially at low frequencies, which is valuable in the dark ocean environment where vision is less useful. What do blue whales eat? Blue whales filter their food through their baleen plates. Blue whales eat krill (euphausiids) and copepods. A blue whale can eat up to 8,000 lbs. of krill during its peak consumption period. It is estimated to take 2,200 lbs.

of food to fill a blue whale's stomach. How do blue whales have their young? Blue whales begin mating between 5-10 years of age. Females are pregnant for about 11 months and females get pregnant approximately every two to four years. Calves can gain 200 lbs. each day while nursing. Mother and calf form a very close bond, with the baby often swimming close to its mother. How long do blue whales live? How do they die? Because of an absence of teeth (which can be used to estimate age in other mammals), it is difficult to tell how old blue whales are when they die. It is believed they live past 50 years old. Blue whales die of natural causes and are sometimes preyed upon by packs of killer whales . Humans commercially hunted blue whales for oil, meat, and apparel materials (for corset stays, umbrella ribs, buggy whips etc.) until early this century. Today blue whale hunting is illegal in the United States. Blue whales may also be harmed by pollution, ship strikes, or entanglement in fishing gear. Books and the world wide web are excellent places to learn more about marine mammals. Books Leatherwood, Stephen. Reeves, Randall R.

Foster, Larry. The Sierra Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Sierra Club, San Francisco, CA. 1983. Leatherwood, Stephen. Reeves, Randall R. Perrin, William F. Evans, William E. Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Eastern North Pacific and Adjacent Arctic waters; A Guide to their Identification. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, NY. 1988. Wynne, Kate. Folkens, Pieter. Guide to Marine Mammals of Alaska. Alaska Sea Grant Program. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. 1992. World Wide Web The National Parks Conservation Association. . The Marine Mammal Center. There are many more sources to learn about cetaceans. Check with MML's online library or your local librarian for her or his recommendations. What Is The Biggest Whale? Books What Is The Biggest Whale? The biggest known whale is the blue whale which also happens to be the largest living animal currently in existence. In fact the blue whale is one of the largest animals to ever roam the earth and is known to rival even the largest of the dinosaurs in terms of size and weight.

The largest blue whales can measure in at over 100 feet long and weigh more than 180 tons when fully matured. Even a baby blue whale is massive in size compared to many other species of whale. At birth baby a blue whale can measure in at around 25 feet in length and will continue to grow very quickly during its first few years. During the first year of birth the baby blue whale can gain as much as 200 pounds per day and consume over 100 gallons of milk every 24 hours. In comparison to the blue whale the largest living land animal (overall) is the African bush elephant , which can reach a maximum height of 13.8 feet and weigh as much as 27,000 pounds. The largest flying bird in the world is the Andean Condor which has a 10.5 foot wingspan and weighs in at around 26 – 33 pounds.

Despite being the largest living animal in the world the blue whales diet primarily consists of krill (a small crustacean that generally measures in at mere 1 – 2 centimeters in size, however a few species of krill can grow to lengths of up to 6 inches long). To provide them with the energy they need to thrive and survive in the ocean blue whales may eat as many as 40 million krill per day. In addition to krill blue whales may coincidentally end up consuming fish and other small sea life while hunting for and engulfing krill. Another interesting fact about the blue whale is that during long migration trips a blue whale may completely forgo eating for as long as 4 months living primarily off of their stored body fat/ blubber , which they use for energy. Even with their simple diet and fasting migration periods blue whales manage to be impressively large. Part of the reason these marine mammals are able to grow so large has to do with the fact that water provides them with bouncy, which makes it easier for whales to move around regardless of their size. The ocean is extremely large and expansive allowing blue whales to swim around without having to worry about colliding with nearby objects.

The waters bouncy also helps support the whales large organs which would otherwise be crushed under the weight of gravity that we face as land dwelling creatures. In addition to supporting the whales large size the ocean also provides whales with a nearly limitless abundance of food, which would be extremely scarce on land for an animal of their magnitude. Note: The largest blue whale ever recorded measured in at around 110 ft. in length, although there have been claims of a blue whale measuring in at 115 feet in length. The largest toothed whale Aside from the baleen whale suborder one of the largest known toothed whales is the sperm whale which can grow to lengths of up to 67 ft. long and weigh up to 65 tons, however on average sperm whales tend to grow between 34 – 55 ft. long depending on the whales sex (male or female) and weigh between 14 – 45 tons. These large marine mammals are known for being one of the deepest diving animals alive and when searching for prey such as large squid the sperm whale can reach depths of up to 3,000 ft.

When hunting for food at these depths the sperm whale uses echolocation to navigate the ocean and search for prey. While these marine mammals are very large most other toothed whales are much smaller in size. For example the second largest toothed whale is often considered Baird’s beaked whale which measures in at an average size of 32 – 36 ft. long with the largest recorded beaked whale growing to a length of over 41 ft. long. Other large baleen whales While the blue whale is the largest known whale in existence there are a number of other whale species that are also very large in size. In fact all species of whale within the baleen whale suborder, with the exception of the minke whale are relatively large in size. Here is a list including the sizes of most of the baleen whales Blue whale – Up to 100 ft. (70 – 90 average) long and up to 180 tons Pygmy blue whale – 70 – 80 ft. long, undetermined weight Bowhead whale – Up to 66 ft. long and up to 100 tons Bryde’s whale – 40 – 55 ft.

long and up to 30 tons Pygmy Byrde’s whale – Undetermined Fin whale – 60 – 80 ft. long and 130 tons or more Gray whale – Up to 50 ft. and 40 tons Humpback whale – 40 – 60 ft. long and up to 44 tons (one extremely large humpback weighed 99 short tons) Antarctic or Southern minke whale – 25 – 35 ft. long and up to 9.5 tons Common minke whale – 19 – 26 ft. long and up to 14 tons Omura’s whale – Rough estimates suggest an average length of 30 – 38 ft., unconfirmed weight Pygmy right whale -Estimates suggest an average length of 14 – 21 ft. and a weight of up to 7,500 lbs. North atlantic right whale -Up to 50 ft. and 70 tons North pacific right whale – 45 – 55 ft. and up to 70 tons Southern right whale -45 – 55 ft.

and up to 60 tons Sei whale – 40 – 50 ft. and up to 50 tons The biggest dolphins In addition to whales there are also several large species of dolphin that inhibit the ocean. The largest known dolphin is the killer whale which can measure up to 32 ft. long and weigh as much as 10 tons. On average males will grow between 20 – 26 ft. long and weigh between 6 – 6.6 tons while female killer whales will grow to an average of 16 – 23 ft. long and weigh between 3.5 – 4.5 tons. There are also several other large dolphins such the long-finned pilot whale which can grow between 18 – 25 ft. long and the third largest known dolphin the false killer whale which measures in at up to 20 ft. long (15 – 17 ft. on average) and can weigh up to 2.5 tons when fully grown. Note: Although all three species carry the name “whale” they are all considered part of the dolphin family.

Search The Largest Penis in the World The Largest Penis in the World GO Both for humans and animals, size does matter! Jan 5, 2007 18:18 GMT · By Stefan Anitei · Share: We, humans, may not be endowed by nature with great physical abilities: powerful muscles or weaponry like fangs, claws, horns and so on. But there is one chapter where we excel: sex. I'm not talking about sexual activity - at it has been proved that bonobo (which is also wrongly named "dwarf chimpanzee") has more sex and much varied than the human being - but about penis size. Man is the ape, the monkey and the primate with the biggest penis! Gorilla males, which dwarf humans in size, have minute penises compared to ours, no thicker and longer than a pencil. Other apes do not reach even this size. In some African countries, saying that one is 'hung like a gorilla' is considered an insult. That's about us, but which is the largest penis in nature?

Well, despite the huge size of penises in elephants and odd hoofed mammals (like rhinos and horses), the biggest penis indeed belongs to the biggest animal: the blue whale. The largest measured penis reached 2,4 m (8 feet) (photo above:the penis of a killer whale). Accurate measurements are difficult to be made because the whale's erect length can only be observed during mating. Moreover, whales (and dolphins) have some control over their penises: they can move it and - to a certain degree - bend its tip to facilitate mating! In a way, we were expecting this result, but this is like a human having a 10 cm penis, because the blue whale can reach 33 m (100 feet) body length. In relative terms, the title belongs to ... a duck! The Argentine Blue-bill or Argentine Lake Duck (Oxyura vittata) is a small South American stiff duck. What's paradoxical in this equation is that most birds do not even have a penis, except ostriches (and related groups, like kiwi and tinamous), ducks, geese and swans. Bird penis in flaccid state curled up inside the cloaca.

Well, a specimen of Argentine blue-bill duck had a remarkable 42.5 cm (17 inches) long penis (photo center) (the average length of this species is 20 cm (8 inches))! The flaccid penis is coiled but fully erect is twice the size of the bird: it is like us having a 3.5 m (12 feet) penis... Biologists believe that the remarkable size of this penis may have evolved in response to competitive pressure in these highly promiscuous species, removing sperm from previous matings in the manner of a bottlebrush. This is the longest relative penis in vertebrates, animals related with us. But there is a type of crustacean (crab related animals) - called barnacles - that provides us another surprise. Barnacles look more like small shells and are indeed sedentary animals, living fixed on rocks or man made structures (or sometimes even on whales!) with a muscular stalk or not. Gooseneck barnacle is one of the most expensive seafoods! Like many sedentary animals, barnacles are hermaphroditic and alternate male and female roles over time.

Neighboring barnacles interfecundate between them, and to be able to do this, they employ the longest penis in the animal kingdom, in proportion to their body length: it is 40 times bigger than the animal's body (photo bellow). As the barnacles measure just a few cm, their penises won't be so obvious for humans... There is another mystery unsolved: male cephalopods (squids, cattlefish, octopuses) have one of their arms, named hectocotylus, turned into a penis. As some wrecked giant squids had arms longer than 8 m (25 feet), how big would their hectocotylus be? Photo credit: K. Mc Cracken CHECK OUT THE GALLERY (3 Images) Top 10 Penises Top 10 Penises From the largest to the oldest Jul 21, 2007 16:11 GMT · By Stefan Anitei · Share: Penises are strongly connected to the war between sexes. Only animals with internal fecundation have a penis, no matter if they lay eggs or deliver living offspring.

A penis' main goal is to insert the sperm inside the female body to fertilize the eggs. Internal fecundation is a must for terrestrial breeding animals but it also evolved in some aquatic lineages: cephalopods (squids, octopuses, cuttlefish), snails (the terrestrial ones, too), crustaceans (only some of them) and sharks. On land, insects, spiders, snails, reptiles, birds (just a few) and mammals have penises. With a penis, the male controls the fertilization process. But a female too controls it more, as mating turns more complicated and she can decide somehow which partner she will choose. 1. This top could have started only with the largest penis in the world. Elephants and odd hoofed mammals (like rhinos and horses) have huge penises, that can be 1.5 m (5 ft) long, but actually the biggest penis belongs to the biggest animal: the blue whale. The largest penis (belonging to a blue whale) ever measured had 2,4 m (8 feet). Accurate measurements are difficult to be made because the whale's erect length can only be observed during mating.

Moreover, whales (and dolphins) have some control over their penises: they can move it and - to a certain degree - bend its tip to facilitate mating! Still, if we take into consideration the whale's size, this is like a human showing off a 10 cm penis, as the blue whale can reach 33 m (100 feet) body length. 2. Most birds do not have a penis. Only ostriches (and related groups, like kiwi and tinamous), ducks, geese and swans have it. And what penises do they hide curled into their cloacae! The Argentine Blue-bill or Argentine Lake Duck (Oxyura vittata) can have 42.5 cm (17 inches) long penises, at an average body length of 20 cm (8 inches)! This is like humans possessing a 3.5 m (12 feet) penis... This is the largest penis amongst vertebrates related to body size. Biologists believe that the remarkable size of this penis may have evolved in response to competitive pressure in these highly promiscuous species, removing sperm from previous matings in the manner of a bottlebrush.

Moreover, ducks' penises are very bizarre: beside their size, they are extremely variable in shape, from smooth to covered with spines, grooves and variably curled, and the duck vagina anatomy is just as bizarre. 3. There is a type of crustacean (crab related animals) - called barnacles - providing a huge surprise. Barnacles look more like small shells and are indeed sedentary animals, living fixed on rocks or man-made structures (or sometimes even on whales) with a muscular stalk or not. Gooseneck barnacle is a very expensive seafood! Like many sedentary animals, barnacles are hermaphroditic and alternate male and female roles over time. Neighboring barnacles interfecundate between them and to be able to do this, they employ the relatively longest penis in the animal kingdom: it is 40 times longer than the animal's body. As the barnacles measure just a few cm, their penises won't be so obvious for humans... 4. If we take a look at cephalopods, the male is really a tab of the penis. In some species, females' only contact with the male side is with their penises!

The penis literally detaches itself from the male body and copulates the female... The cephalopod penises are named hectocotylus, even when they are not removable, like in the cases of squids and cuttlefish. It is the third tentacle on the right of the male that is modified in various ways to effect the fertilization of the female's eggs and stores spermatophores (packages of sperm cells). After one mating, when the male loses its hectocotylus, it won't be able to copulate again till the next season, when a new hectocotylus re-grows. In common octopuses, males die within a few months after mating, without regenerating another hectocotylus. Sometimes, the hectocotylus can even lose its tentacle form and the males of those species seem to have only seven tentacles. In Argonauta octopuses, the much smaller male does not even approach the female. When the spermatophores are formed, the hectocotylus breaks off from the male while away from the female, heading towards her and entering alone into its mantle cavity to copulate.

There is another mystery unsolved: if giant squids had arms longer than 8 m (25 feet), how big would their hectocotylus be? 5. Snakes and lizards have a ... double penis. Each penis on this pair is called a hemipenis (plural hemipenes). Resting hemipenes are held inverted inside the cloacae and during the copulation act, the erectile tissue, like that in the mammalian and human penis, everts the hemipenes in erection. Despite this nature's generosity, only one "gun" is used at a time and scientific research revealed that males alternate the use of their weaponry between copulations. This is because every hemipenis also ejaculates a gelatinous "mating plug", which delays remating by female and continuous use of only one arm would deplete it of ammunition. In many snakes, the hemipenis possesses spines or hooks, in order to anchor the male inside the female, as the lack of legs impedes males from gripping the females. As if this had not been enough, some species even have forked hemipenes (each hemipenis has two tips).

Because hemipenes are everted and inverted, their anatomical structure is not like that of the mammal penis: they do not have a completely enclosed channel for sperm conduction, but a seminal groove which seals as the erectile tissue expands the hemipenes. In snakes, where there is an asymmetry between many paired organs (kidney, testes), there is an asymmetry between the hemipenes as well. In some lizards, the distal lobes of the retracted hemipenis are complexly folded and there is a well-defined supporting structure of dense connective tissue, the armature. 6. Sharks too possess a double penis. All other fish species have an external fecundation (like we see in most frogs and toads), in which a penis would be useless. (the sole exception amongst the bony fish is the Poeciliidae family and some related species, tiny tropical species, some very common in fish tanks, like gupy, molly, platy, swordtail). This does not mean that all sharks will give birth to living offspring, some lay eggs (like all rays, skates, Port Jackson shark, catsharks, houndsharks).

The two penises of the shark are named claspers (or pterygopodia) and develop themselves based on the anterior region of the ventral flippers. The name "claspers" is somewhat misleading as they do not serve for holding on to the female, but play the role of the mammalian penis. Each of the two penises has a cartilaginous support inside and a groove on their inner edge. Unlike the case of the double penis of the snakes and lizards, where each of the penises functions alone like a sole penis by itself, in this case, they approach each other and unite during the copulation, forming a channel through which the sperm liquid is eliminated. In small species, like catfish shark, males were seen curled around the females. Less flexible species were seen in a parallel position, with the male introducing a clasper in the female's oviduct. Females in large species (like great white) bear bite marks that seem to be inflicted by mating males, in order to get a grip for maintaining position. On the gill area, females present a thickened skin, to withstand the bites (as seen in great white shark female). 7. Human penis ends with a head called gland.

This is also the case of most species. But some glands are double-headed! Bifurcated penises are found in the most primitive living mammals: monotremes (which include platypus and echidna) and marsupials (opossums, Tasmanian devils, quolls, bilbies, bandicoots, koala, wombats, wallabies, potoroos, numbat, gliders and others). Amongst marsupials, only the two largest species of kangaroos are destitute of this peculiar trait. The bifurcated penises are formed by two distinct columns and so the penis has two ends. And to get more, the echidna has a four-headed penis! Echidna does not use its penis for urination and it only gets out of the body during mating (monotremes have a cloacae organ, like birds and reptiles, where the penis is kept while resting). The two penis heads may have different anatomies, according to the groups and species: some are short, others long, some are coiled between them and so on.

Because the peculiar penis' anatomy in males corresponds to an odd female genital anatomy, the marsupial females do not only have two uteruses (which are partially or totally fused in evolved mammals) but two vaginas also! In some species, the vaginas may be partially joined, but never lose identity. 8. The penis has a very simple job to do: to maintain sufficient stiffness to enter an orifice during mating and to deliver sperm. That's it. Mammals solved it in the easiest way! Most mammals have a unique bone called baculum (also penis bone, penile bone or os penis) in their penis. The only mammal species without baculum are the humans, horses, donkeys, rhinoceros, marsupials, rabbits, cetaceans (whales and dolphins), elephants and hyenas. But baculum is present in most primates, rodents, carnivores, seals. The penis bone is kept in the abdomen and, when needed, a set of muscles push it into a sheath in the fleshy part of the penis. It enters the erectile tissue, providing rigidness to aid during the copulation.

The penis bone varies in size and shape and its characteristics are sometimes used to differentiate between similar species. The homologue of the baculum in female mammals is known as the baubellum or os clitoris. In humans and mammals lacking the baculum and baubellum, the rigidity of the erection is provided entirely through blood pressure in the corpus cavernosum. This bone is important in copulation when mates have only a short encounter and need to perform quickly. The baculum is for speed: sliding a bone in and out of a sheath is much faster than waiting for the hydraulics to kick in and limits the time spent for mating, which is, after all, in a vulnerable position. Indeed, mammals without a baculum have in change larger erectile penises and they perform much longer during copulation! .... The baculum explains lion's sexual marathon of roughly 250 copulations in 4 days, even if each copulation lasts 30-70 seconds ....Because, in this case, erection depends more on a willingly moved muscle and not in tissue turgescence.

The largest baculum in the mammal kingdom belongs to the walrus, which can reach a length of 30 inches (75 cm): as big as a human femur! Even large dogs have a 10 cm baculum! In Chinese traditional medicine, tiger and bear bone penises are considered aphrodisiacs! (chewing chicken bones would result cheaper, with the same effects and would not push to the brink of extinction these species). 9. The penis of the vertebrates and cephalopods, being fleshy, cannot fossilize. The shark's penis has cartilages, but these seldom fossilize. Perhaps only the mummified penises of the pharaohs are the only fleshy ones that can come from the past. The baculum is not attached to the skeleton and hard to find in fossils. Still, fossils of cave bear penis bones have been found. In fact, only in arthropods (like crustaceans, spiders, insects), as their penis has an exoskeleton, there are real chances of finding fossil penises.

Indeed, the oldest fossil penis is that of an ocean-dwelling ostracode crustacean, Colymbosathon ecplecticos ("amazing swimmer with a large penis"), found in 2003 in the 425-million-year-old rocks in the UK. The 5 mm long ancient creature had been buried in volcanic ash during the Silurian Period and had been well preserved, his soft tissues included, being remarkably similar to some modern ostracodes. A remarkable old male genitalia was found in the 400-million-year-old fossil of a harvestman or daddy longlegs, a non-web-spinning arachnid, related to mites, ticks and spiders. This 2001 find was discovered in rocks from the village of Rhynie, near Aberdeen in Scotland. Despite the great age of the fossils, they are almost identical to current harvestmen. This is the oldest penis in a terrestrial species to be found. 10.We, humans, may not be endowed by nature with great physical abilities: powerful muscles or weaponry-like fangs, claws, horns and so on. But there is one chapter where we excel: sex.

I'm not talking about sexual activity - at it has been proved that bonobo (which is also wrongly named "dwarf chimpanzee") has more sex and much varied than the human being - but about penis size. Man is the ape, the monkey and the primate with the biggest penis! Gorilla males, which are dwarf humans in size, have minute penises compared to ours, as thicker and longer as a pencil. Other apes do not reach even this size. In some African countries, saying that one is 'hung like a gorilla' is a great insult. CHECK OUT THE GALLERY (8 Images)

Question: What is the largest mammal in the world and can reach a length of 100 foot?
Answer: The Blue Whale