Plant & Animal

Princess Royal · #1 Monday, December 17, 2007

Plant & Animal Records

Trees:

Tallest species: Eucalyptus. These trees can grow to more than 130 m (427 ft) in height.

Heaviest species: Giant sequoia. Also known as wellingtonians, these conifers weigh up to 2,000 tonnes.

Oldest species: Ginkgo. This ancient species first appeared about 160 million ago in China.

Oldest living tree: Bristlecone pine. Native to Arizona and Nevada, USA, this species can live for more than 5,000 years.

Most drought-resistant tree: Baobab. This African tree can store up to 136,000 litres (29,920 UK gallons) of water in its trunk.

World's tallest tree: A coast redwood in Montgomery State Reserve, California, USA. It stands 112.01 m (368 ft) tall.

World's biggest living tree: The General Sherman giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park, California, USA. It is 84 m (276 ft) talland its base is approximately 10 m (33 ft) wide.

Fungi:

Fungi used to be classified as plants, but, since 1969, botanists have classified them as a separate kingdom.

Biggest fungus: Bracket fungus. This huge species measures several metres acroos.

Most poisonous fungus: Death cap. If eaten, this deadly mushroom can cause death within 15 hours.

Flowering Plants:

Largest flower: Giant rafflesia. This foul-smelling flower can grow up to 1.05 m (3.5 ft) across and weigh as much as 7 kg (15.4 lb).

Smallest flower: Australian duckweed. The flowers of this floating plant measure only 0.61 mm (0.024 in) across.

Smallest land plant: Drawf snow willow. This miniscule plant grows only a few centimeters long.

Longest seaweed: Pacific giant kelp seaweed. The fronds of this seaweed can grow as long as 60 m (197 ft).

Fastest-growing plant: Bamboo. This is the tallest and fastest-growing grass. Some species can grow to 30 m (98.4 ft) at a rate of 1 m (3.2 ft) a days.

Dioon edule. This evergreen shrub grows at a rate of only 0.76 mm (0.29 in) per year.

Leaves:

Largest leaf: Raffia palm. Its leaves can grow up to 20 m (66 ft) long.

Smallest leaf: Floating duckweed. The leaves of this tiny plant are only 0.6 mm (0.02 in) long and 0.3 mm (0.01 in) wide.

Seeds:

Largest seed: Coco-de-mer palm. Each seed can weigh up to 20 kg (44 lb) and take ten years to develop.

Smallest seed: A species of orchid. A billion seeds weigh as little as 1 g (0.035 oz).

Most poisonous animals:

Reptile: Hydrophis belcheri. This sea snake is far more poisonous than any land snake. The Australian taipan is the deadliest land snake. Its bite is fatal without an antitoxin that counteracts the venom.

Fish: Death puffer. This harmless looking fish keeps poison in its blood and organs. If eaten, it can kill a person.

Arachnid: Brazilian wandering spider. This aggressive spider bites if disturbed.

Mollusc: Blue-ringed octopus. The painful bite of this Australian octopus can kill in minutes.

Amphibian: Golden-yellow poison-dart frog. The colourful poison dart frogs from South and Central America and the Madagascan mantillas have highly poisonous chemicals in their skins.

Mammals:

Largest mammal: Blue whale. The world’s heaviest and longest animal, it can grow up to 35 m (115 ft) long and weigh up to 190 tonnes.

Largest land mammal: African elephant. The average male elephant is 3 m (9.8 ft) tall and weigh about 5 tonne.

Tallest mammal: Giraffe. The adult male giraffe can grow up to 5.9 m (19.4 ft) tall.

Smallest mammal: Kitti’s hog-nosed bat. Sometimes know as bumblebee bats, these tiny creatures have an average length of 3.3 cm (1.3 in) and weigh no more than 2 g (0.07 oz)

Smallest land mammal: African pygmy shrew. From head to tail, it is only 70 mm (2.7 in) long and weighs between 1.5-2.5 g (0.05-0.08 oz)

Heaviest primate: Gorilla. The male gorilla can weigh as much as 220 kg (485 lb).

Largest flying mammal: A flying fox (fruit bat of tropical Africa and Asia) can grow to the size of a small dog and have a wingspan of 2 m (6 ft).

Reptiles & Amphibians:

Largest lizard: Komodo dragon lizard. This Indonesian reptile grows up to 3 m (10 ft) long and weighs up to 166 kg (365 lb).

Smallest lizard:BritishVirginIsland gecko. This tiny lizard is only 18 mm (0.7 in) long.

Longest reptile: Saltwater crocodile. This is the longest animal on land, growing up tp 6 m (20 ft) long.

Largest amphibian: Sminthillus limbatus. This tiny frog from Cuba is only 1 cm (0.5 in) long.

Largest turtle: Leatherback turtle. This turtle can grow more than 2 m (6.6 ft) long and weigh up to 450 kg (1,000 lb).

Snakes

Longest snake: Anaconda. The average length of the South American anaconda is 5.5 m (18 ft).

Shortest snake: Thread snake. This tiny snake from the West Indies is less than 11 cm (4.4 in) long.

Longest fangs: Gaboon viper. Its fangs can be as long as 5 cm (2 in).

Fastest snake: Black mamba. This African snake can travel at speeds of up to 19 kmh (12 mph).

Spiders & Insects:

Largest spider: Goliath bird-eating spider. The largest specimen on record had a legspan of 28 cm (11 in).

Largest web: Orb-web spider. Tropical orb-web spiders can spin webs of up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in circumference.

Largest butterfly: Queen Alexandra’s birdwing. It is the largest and heaviest butterfly with a wingspan of up to 28 cm (11 in).

Largest prehistoric insect: Dragonfly. This huge insect had a wingspan of 75 cm (29.5 in).

Longest insect: Giant stick insect. This insect from New Guinea has an average length of 45 cm (17.7 in).

Largest wingspan: Owlet moth. Its wingspan can measure up to 30 cm (12 in).

Heaviest insect: Goliath beetle. This huge African beetle weighs up to 100 g (3.5 oz).

Smallest insect: Fairfly wasp. These tiny wasps grow only 0.2 mm (0.007 in) long.

Marine animals:

Largest fish: Whale shark. Found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, these huge fish can grow up to 12.65 m (41.5 ft) long.

Smallest fish: Dwarf goby. The average length of a male fish is only 6 mm (0.3 in).

Largest mollusc: Giant Atlantic squid. The largest specimens grow up to 17 m (55.7 ft) long.

Largest bivalve mollusc: Giant clam. It can weigh as much as 300 kg (661 lb) and grow to 1.15 m (3.7 ft).

Largest crustacean: Japanese spider crab. This huge crab has a legspan of 4 m (13 ft) and can weigh as much as 18.6 kg. (41 lb).

Smallest crustacean: Alonella waterflea. This tiny creature grows only 0.25 mm (0.1 in) long.

Birds:

Largest flying bird: Great bustard. A male bird can weigh up to 19 kg (42 lb).

Largest flightless bird: Ostrich. The African ostrich weighs 130 kg (280 lb) and grows to a height of 2.7 m (8.9 ft).

Largest prehistoric bird: Elephant bird. This massive flightless bird from Madagascar weighed around 438 g (966 lb) and stood 3 m (10 ft) tall.

Smallest bird: Bee hummingbird. This Cuban bird measures only 5.7 cm (2.2 in) and weighs just 1.6 g (0.05 oz)

Farthest migration: Arctic tern. Every year this bird flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again-a round trip of about 40,000 km (25,000 miles).

Largest wingspan: Wandering albatross. The wingspan of this huge seabird can stretch up to 3.6 m (12 ft) across.

Largest egg: Ostrich egg. The largest specimens can weigh up to 1.65 kg (3.64 lb) and measure up to 20 cm (8 in) long.

Smallest egg: Bee hummingbird egg. These eggs weigh only 0.25 g (0.0009 oz)

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The Following User Says Thank You to Princess Royal For This Useful Post:
Raz (Sunday, December 30, 2007)