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The strongest animal, the fastest animal, the animal with the longest jump, and many many more. Come check out some impressive records in the animal kingdom. Did you know that the cheetah ISN'T the fastest animal on Earth, and it's not even close? These superlatives are shocking, funny, and sometimes, a little scary. Join host Erin McCarthy on her safari through some very impressive animals. Don't miss a video! Subscribe NOW: https://www.youtube.com/@MentalFloss?sub_confirmation=1 About Mental Floss: Mental Floss is where curious people come for trivia-tastic information. Mental Floss produces lists of fun facts, debunks common misconceptions, and tells untold stories from history, science, culture and more. Website: http://www.mentalfloss.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mental_floss Facebook: https://facebook.com/mentalflossmagazine Discord: https://discord.io/mentalfloss Copyright Notice: This video and YouTube channel contain dialog, music, and images that are property of Mental Floss. You are authorized to share the video link and channel, and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to this YouTube Channel is provided. 2025 Mental Floss 17 Wild Animal Superlatives | Mental Floss https://www.youtube.com/@MentalFloss
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Did you know that the longest animal on Earth is only a few inches wide
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The boot-laced worm stretches longer than the largest whales, reaching a maximum length of 190 feet
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That's enough to circle the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and still have 30 feet to spare
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Despite over-delivering in terms of length, they're not much thicker than other worms
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Not counting Shai Halut, of course. They measure a few inches wide at most. The ribbonworm species is aquatic, residing in the cool coastal waters around northern Europe
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If you encounter one on a beach trip, swim the other way. It releases a highly toxic mucus capable of paralyzing its prey, just in case you needed
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another reason to keep your distance from a 190-foot worm. Hi, I'm Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of mentalfloss.com, and you're watching The
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List Show. The bootlace worm is just the first incredible animal superlative we'll be covering in
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today's episode. We're not just going over fastest and biggest either. We're also looking at who has the strongest schnoz and the longest leap
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Let's get started. Though they're rivaled in length, the blue whale is the undisputed champion when it comes
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to sheer mass. Not only is it the largest animal on Earth today, it's the biggest creature
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that has ever lived. Sometimes weighing over 200 tons, they outclass even the largest dinosaurs
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that roamed the planet millions of years ago. To put that into perspective, a blue whale's
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tongue weighs as much as an elephant. Its heart is the size of a small car, and its body spans
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the length of three school buses. In an era that has fostered relatively smaller megafauna
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how did blue whales evolve to be so huge? The answer lies in their ocean environment
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While land mammals are constantly working against gravity, whales can rely on their
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buoyant surroundings to support their massive frames. All that extra bulk also provides an
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evolutionary advantage in frigid waters. Big mammals lose body heat less quickly
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so whales may have gotten bigger as a survival tactic. Even so, anything over 100 tons feels
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like showing off. The largest land animal is the African savanna elephant, which weighs up to 7
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tons and stands 13 feet tall Mass may be an advantage in chilly waters but it can be a liability under the African sun Elephants have evolved many adaptations to stay cool in hot weather including their fan ears Blood loses heat as it moves through the animal oversized
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appendages, helping the rest of the body stay cool and comfortable. When their built-in air
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conditioning system isn't enough on its own, elephants also like to cool off with their built-in
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sprinkler, aka their trunk. In addition to being the largest animal on land, the African elephant
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is also the strongest animal on Earth. It can lift its own sizable body weight from a lying
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down position. They also have the strongest noses in the animal kingdom by far. An elephant can
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easily uproot a tree using the 17 very strong muscles in its flexible trunk. Dung beetles
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aren't capable of knocking down trees, but they do excel in a different strength category
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They can move objects 1,141 times their body weight, making them the world's strongest
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creatures pound for pound, or ounce for ounce in this case. For comparison, that's like a 200-pound
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person hauling a Boeing 757 with their bare hands. The unfortunately named insects are impressive in
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other ways as well. In addition to acting as their own tractor trailers, dung beetles have their own
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built-in GPS. After rolling up a ball of dung, they use the positions of the sun, moon, and
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Milky Way to navigate it back home. That makes them one of the rare creatures to boast both brains
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and brawn. Now, if only they could do something about the smell. Cheetahs are often characterized
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as the speed demons of the animal kingdom. The athletic felines have been clocked at top speeds
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of 75 miles per hour, making them the fastest creatures on land. Even with their natural talents
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cheetahs still have to work for their lunch. Antelopes fall a little short of the superlative
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speed by 20 miles per hour, but they do best the predators when it comes to endurance. That goes
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to show that sometimes survival in the savannah is a marathon, not a sprint. The planet's overall
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speed record belongs to the peregrine falcon. The birds are capable of dive-bombing their prey at
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speeds of over 200 miles per hour. The feat looks more like falling than flying, but that
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doesn make it less impressive than the land speed record Peregrine falcons have to fold their bodies into the most aerodynamic shape possible to achieve their top speeds From there they rely on other adaptations like rigid feathers an extra heart and powerful lungs that are capable of delivering oxygen at race car speeds
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The golden poison dart frog is adorable, but as its name suggests, it isn't for petting
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Native to the rainforests of Colombia, the bright yellow amphibian contains enough poison in its
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2-inch body to kill 10 people. That makes it probably the most poisonous creature on Earth
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The planet's most venomous organism can be found in the sea. While poisonous animals transmit their
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toxins through contact or ingestion, venomous ones kill their victims with a bite or sting
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The box jellyfish uses the latter delivery method. Its tentacles are equipped with roughly 5,000
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stinging cells each. When these cells sense a certain chemical on its prey's flesh, they release
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toxins that assault the heart, skin, and nervous system. The world's most venomous animal is
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potentially responsible for dozens if not hundreds of deaths per year, many unreported
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The depths of the ocean get surprisingly loud, especially when there are sperm whales nearby
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Their clicking vocalizations reach up to 236 decibels, which is louder than a thunderclap
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Decibels measure the pressure or perceived loudness of a sound instead of the straight
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frequency. The sperm whale's record-breaking echolocation is boosted by the water, which transfers sound waves more easily than air. The sound would only reach around 210 decibels on
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on land, which is still loud enough to burst human eardrums. The loudest animal living outside the water is the bulldog bat, native to Latin America
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Like whales, they use echolocation to pinpoint their prey, and their calls are powerful
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The winged mammals can produce sounds approaching 140 decibels. Despite their exceptional vocal abilities, you wouldn't be able to hear the bulldog bat
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even if it was screeching in your face. That's because the bat's cries are ultrasonic, meaning they're too high to register to human ears
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The oldest bivalve specimen on record lived through the Protestant Reformation, two world
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wars, and the invention of Facebook. Scientists used carbon dating to calculate the age of an ocean quahog called Ming, which
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was named after the first Chinese dynasty it lived through When it died in 2006 the clam was estimated to be 507 years old Quahogs aren the only marine creatures with impressive longevity Giant barrel sponges
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are sometimes called the redwoods of the reef, as they can grow 10 feet tall and live to be 2,300
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years old. You can also find old vertebrates in the coldest corners of the ocean. Greenland sharks
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are thought to be the longest living species with a spine, with the oldest known specimen estimated
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to have been 392 years old. Life moves at a slower pace for the Arctic fish. The first half of their
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scientific name, Somniosis microcephalus, literally means sleep in reference to their leisurely
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swimming speed. A frog hopper, which is actually a type of insect, can leap 28 inches into the air
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That's especially impressive considering the bugs measure less than half an inch long. They use
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specialized structures in their legs that flex like archery bows to fling their bodies 100 times
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their length. The South African sharp-nosed frog comes close to that record
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In 1975, a member of the species jumped 17 feet and 6 inches, or 90 times its body length
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That remains the record for frogs relative to body size. Mammals don't have the most impressive jumps proportionate to their body size, but they
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do dominate an overall distance. Red kangaroos are famously talented jumpers, and they can cover 45 feet in one leap
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Even when they're not jumping beyond Olympic-level distances, kangaroos hop everywhere they
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go. Their spring-like legs and tail makes it the most energy-efficient form of transportation
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for the marsupials. A different mammal holds the world record for highest vertical jump
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A mountain lion has been documented bounding 23 feet off the ground. So if you ever come
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face to face with a big cat, think twice before escaping up a tree. That's it for today's episode
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of The List Show. If you find some of these animal superlatives both fascinating and a little
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terrifying, well, you're not alone. I didn't think I needed another reason to find kangaroos
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freaky, but knowing that these super swole animals can also cover 45 feet in a single bound
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I hate that. I really hate that. Anyway, thanks for watching and we'll see you next time
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