DESCRIPTION | LIVING BEING | EXPLANATION |
Bird with the largest wing span | Albatross | The Wandering Albatross of the southern oceans has the largest wingspan for any bird. The largest recorded wing span is about 12 ft for a very old male albatross. |
Heaviest snake | Anaconda | Found mainly in tropical jungles of South America, the heaviest anaconda measured so far was nearly 500 lb. |
Heaviest bird of prey | Andean Condor | |
Fastest growing plant | Bamboo | Some species of bamboo grow upto 3 ft per day and can reach heights of upto 120 ft. Among the trees, the fastest growing one is Eucalyptus Salinga. Botanically, bamboo is treated a grass and not a tree. |
Largest mammal | Blue Whale | The Blue Whale is also commonly known as the Sulfur Bottom Whale. It is the heaviest and longest mammal and also the largest mammal ever recorded. |
Fastest land animal | Cheetah | No one can beat a cheetah over short distances (600 yds or so). They have been found to touch speeds of over 65 mph over plain ground. But over sustained distances, the Pronghorn Antelope is the fastest. |
Most contagious disease | Common cold | |
Fastest fish | Cosmopolitan Sailfish | |
Largest land animal | Elephant | The African Bush Elephant is the largest living land animal. The average bull stands nearly 11 ft and weighs over 6 tons. |
Heaviest dog (breed) | English Mastiff or St. Bernard | Both English Mastiff and St Bernard are considered to be among the heaviest dogs in the world. Males from both the breeds have been regularly weighed in at 170-200 lb. |
Longest bone in the human body | Femur | The adult human body has a total of 206 bones. The longest and strongest one is the thigh bone also called the femur. It may be about 28% of a person's stature. Often people think the back bone is the longest. In fact it is not a single bone but a collection of many smaller bones (vertebrae). |
Tallest land animal | Giraffe | Found only in semi-desert areas of Africa, the tallest recorded specimen was a giraffe called George (at the Chester Zoo). His height was a staggering 20 ft. |
Largest muscle in the human body | Gluteus Maximus | Gluteus Maximus is better known as the buttock muscle which extends the thigh. Sometimes in pregnant women the womb can increase in weight to nearly 2 lb. This is larger than the buttock muscles of most bodybuilders. But then this is not permanent and hence not considered the largest muscle. |
Tallest dog (breed) | Great Dane | |
Largest predatory fish | Great White Shark | |
Smallest bird | Hummingbird | The Bee Hummingbird of Cuba and Isle of Pines is the smallest bird in the world. It also holds the record for the smallest nest ever built by a bird. |
Fastest marine animal | Killer Whale | Killer whales (orcinus orca) have been found to be the fastest marine animals. Dall's porpoise may also match the killer whale in speed for short bursts. |
Longest venomous snake | King Cobra | Also known as the Hamadryad, the King Cobra found usually in the jungles of South East Asia can grow upto 15 ft in length. |
Heaviest internal organ in the human body | Liver | The liver is the organ that secretes bile and purifies the blood. |
Strongest muscle in the human body | Masseter (jaw muscles) | The masseter muscles are responsible for our chewing and biting action.They can exert a force of upto 80 kg. There are about 639 muscles in the human body and they account for 40% of the body weight. |
Longest cells in the human body | Nerve Cells (Neurons) | Some of the motor neurons may be as long as 4.25 ft. There might be nerve cells that are as long as the human body itself. Nerve cells are used for carrying information from one part to another via electrical impulses at speeds over 200 mph. |
Most common blood group in humans | O | Nearly half the world's population has blood Group O. |
Bird with the largest egg | Ostrich | The egg of an ostrich weighs approximately 4 lb. It can support the weight of a full-grown man. |
Largest bird | Ostrich | A male ostrich may be as tall as 9 ft and weigh as much as 345 lbs.Ostriches also hold the record for highest speed on land for a bird. |
Fastest flying bird | Peregrine Falcon | The Peregrine Falcon has been timed at about 175 mph making it the fastest flying bird ever. |
Largest carnivore on land | Polar Bear | |
Longest snake | Reticulated Python | Found mainly in South East Asia, the longest recorded specimen of a reticulated python was found to be around 33 ft. |
Smallest bone in the human body | Stirrup | Stirrup is one of the three auditory bones in the human ear. It is also called the stapes. It measures 2.6 to 3.4 millimetres and weighs 2 to 4grams. |
Slowest mammal | Three-toed Sloth | Also known as Ai, the three-toed sloth is resident of the forests of tropical South America. Its average ground speed is nearly 6 ft per minute. |
Most common non-contagious disease | Tooth decay | Nearly everyone suffers from some sort of tooth problem at least once in his/her lifetime. |