Gary The Capybara can’t fit on your desk in a little cage. He’s much too large for that. Quite similar in size to a midsize dog, he’s the world’s largest pet rodent. He lives with owners Melanie Typaldos and Richard Loveman. The pair met Gary while on a trip to Venezuela and fell in love with him, eventually bringing him back to their home in Texas.
Gary loves spending his days swimming in his owners’ swimming pool of which they share about him that he’s a fast learner. According to Ms. Typaldos, Gary knows how to turn in circles, stand up, jump, and shake hands when told to do so. Gary loves sleeping right next to his owners in the family bed.
Largest Amphibian Species
The Chinese giant salamander is the largest amphibian in the world. It is native to the mountain streams and lakes of China. An adult salamander on average can weigh anywhere from 55 to 66 pounds and measure about 3.77 feet across. The heaviest salamander to ever be recorded weighed a whopping 110 pounds and measured 5.9 feet across. Salamanders have a diverse taste and like to feast on insects, worms, other amphibians, shrimps, crabs, fish, and water shrew.
Currently, these amphibians are regarded as critically endangered and their species is in continual decline thanks to human interactions. If you ever find yourself in the mountain streams or lakes of China and you hear what sounds like a crying child, this could actually be a Chinese giant salamander as their vocalization is said to resemble that sound.
The Red Kangaroo Is Basically A Body Builder
You wouldn’t want to mess with a red kangaroo even if you've been having major gains at the gym. These kangaroos are more muscular than even the daily gym rats. Despite looking bigger than the Hulk, these animals are also very aggressive. Male red kangaroos can reach a height of up to 5.9 feet tall. The largest kangaroo ever documented measured in at seven feet and 201 lbs. In 2015, Roger the Kangaroo went viral on the internet. This giant red kangaroo weighed almost 200 lbs and could crush metal with his bare hands.
At 10 years old, Roger will most likely outgrow and outweigh the heaviest red kangaroo on record. For now, at 200 lbs, he's not doing so shabbily and we definitely wouldn't want to get on his bad side. Red kangaroos are found across western and central Australia. They usually live in groups of 2-4 members but may congregate at times in numbers as much as 1,500 individuals.
More About Supersized Spiders
If measuring by leg span, then the Giant Huntsman spider is the world's largest. While it is not as bulky as the Goliath spider, its legs can measure up to one foot in length. The giant Huntsman spider is indigenous to Laos and is thought to be a cave dweller.
Huntsman spiders do not build webs like other spiders, instead, they choose to hunt. While they are venomous, they are not thought to be a big threat to humans. People have even taken huntsman spiders in as pets, believe it or not. They mostly only eat other insects, and sometimes geckos.
The African Elephant Is The Largest Terrestrial Animal
Did you think we'd give you a list of giant animals without including the African elephant? The African elephant weighs around six tons. This is basically the weight of three cars. They measure at 7.5 meters in length and 3.3 meters high at the shoulders. They use their giant ears to radiate extra heat. This is vital for their survival as they spend long days grazing in the scorching hot African sun.
Their most feature is their long white tusks which also cause them to be under severe threat thanks to poaching and habitat loss. Besides their impressively large frames, African elephants are highly intelligent animals. They exhibit a wide variety of behaviors, like grief, learning, mimicry, play, a sense of humor, compassion, memory, and self-awareness. Their brains are similar to humans in terms of structure and complexity.