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The heaviest land mammal is the African bush elephant, which has a weight of up to 10.1 t (11.1 short tons). It measures 10–13 ft at the shoulder and consumes around 230 kg (500 lb) of vegetation a day. Its tusks have been known to reach 2.7 m (9 ft) in length, although in modern populations they are most commonly recorded at a length of 0.6–0.9 m (2 ft 0 in – 2 ft 11 in).[1] The average walking speed of an elephant is 7.2 km/h (4.5 mph), but they can run at recorded speeds of up to 24 km/h (15 mph).[2]

Heaviest extant land mammals

Rank Name Image Family Taxonomy
Classification		 Mass[Note 1]
1 African bush elephant Elephantidae Loxodonta africana 5,200–10,000 kg (11,500–22,000 lb)[3] [4]
2 Asian elephant Elephantidae Elephas maximus: E. m. indicus, E. m. maximus, E. m. sumatranus, E. m. borneensis 2,400–8,000 kg (5,300–17,600 lb) [5] [4]
3 African forest elephant Elephantidae Loxodonta cyclotis 1,700–6,000 kg (3,700–13,200 lb)[6]
4 White rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Ceratotherium simum: Ceratotherium simum cottoni, C. s. simum 3,000–4,500 kg (6,600–9,900 lb)[7]
5 Hippopotamus Hippopotamidae Hippopotamus amphibius: H. a. amphibius, H. a. kiboko, H. a. capensis, H. a. tschadensis, H. a. constrictus 1,210–4,500 kg (2,670–9,920 lb)[8] [9]
6 Indian rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Rhinoceros unicornis 2,070–4,000 kg (4,560–8,820 lb) [10] [11]
7 Black rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Diceros bicornis: D. b. minor, D. b. michaeli, D. b. longipes 850–2,896 kg (1,874–6,385 lb)[12]
8 Javan rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Rhinoceros sondaicus 900–2,300 kg (2,000–5,100 lb)[13]
9 Giraffe Giraffidae Giraffa camelopardalis: G. c. camelopardalis, G. c. reticulata, G. c. angolensis, G. c. antiquorum, G. c. tippelskirchi, G. c. rothschildi, G. c. giraffa, G. c. thornicrofti, G. c. peralta 700–2,000 kg (1,500–4,400 lb)[14][15]
10 Gaur Bovidae Bos gaurus: B. g. gaurus, B. g. readei, B. g. hubbacki 440–1,500 kg (970–3,310 lb)[16]
11 Cattle Bovidae Bos taurus, Bos indicus, Bos primigenius 120–1,400 kg (260–3,090 lb)[17][18]
12 American bison Bovidae Bison bison: B. b. athabascae, B. b. bison 540–1,270 kg (1,190–2,800 lb) in wild,[19][20] and a semidomesticated bull weighed 1,724 kg (3,801 lb).[19]
13 Wild water buffalo Bovidae Bubalus arnee[Note 2] 600–1,200 kg (1,300–2,600 lb)[21][22]
14 Wild yak Bovidae Bos mutus 500–1,200 kg (1,100–2,600 lb)[23]
15 Giant eland Bovidae Taurotragus derbianus: T. d. derbianus, T. d. gigas 400–1,200 kg (880–2,650 lb)[24]
16 Gayal Bovidae Bos frontalis 650–1,000 kg (1,430–2,200 lb)[citation needed]
17 European bison Bovidae Bison bonasus 500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb)[25][26]
18 Sumatran rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Dicerorhinus sumatrensis 500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb)[27]
19 Eland Bovidae Taurotragus oryx: T. o. livingstonii, T. o. oryx, T. o. pattersonianus 400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb)[28][29]
20 Bactrian camel Camelidae Camelus bactrianus, Camelus ferus 300–1,000 kg (660–2,200 lb)[30][31]
21 Dromedary Camelidae Camelus dromedarius 400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb)[32]
22 Water buffalo Bovidae Bubalus bubalis 300–1,000 or 1,100 kg (660–2,200 or 2,430 lb)[33][34]
23 Yak Bovidae Bos grunniens 300–1,000 kg (660–2,200 lb)[35]
24 Polar bear Ursidae Ursus maritimus 300–1,000 kg (660–2,200 lb)[36][37][38]
25 Brown bear Ursidae Ursus arctos: U. a. arctos, U. a. collaris, U. a. beringianus, U. a. isabellinus, U. a. gobiensis, U. a. lasiotus, Ursus arctos marsicanus, U. a. syriacus, U. a. pruinosus, U. a. horribilis, U. a. gyas,U. a. middendorffi, U. a. sitkensis, U. a. stikeenensis, U. a. nelsoni, U. a. crowtheri 150–1,000 kg (330–2,200 lb)[39][40][41][42]
26 Kouprey Bovidae Bos sauveli 680–910 kg (1,500–2,010 lb)[43][26]
27 Banteng Bovidae Bos javanicus: B. j. javanicus, B. j. lowi, B. j. birmanicus 590–900 kg (1,300–1,980 lb)[44]
28 African buffalo Bovidae Syncerus caffer: S. c. caffer, S. c. nanus, S. c. brachyceros, S. c. mathewsi, S. c. aequinoctialis 300–870 kg (660–1,920 lb)[45][46]
29 Moose Cervidae Alces alces: A. a. alces, A. a. pfizenmayeri, A. a. cameloides, A. a. buturlini, A. a. americana, A. a. andersoni, A. a. gigas, A. a. shirasi 200–820 kg (440–1,810 lb)[47][48][5]
30 Elk Cervidae Cervus canadensis: C. c. alashanicus, C. c. kansuensis, C. c. macneilli, C. c. manitobensis, C. c. nannodes, C. c. nelsoni, C. c. roosevelti, C. c. xanthopygus, C. c. sibiricus, C. c. songaricus, C. c. wallichii 170–600 kg (370–1,320 lb)[49][50]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Entries are ordered by the median or mean body mass (in that order of preference), if available, or otherwise by the geometric mean of the body mass range limits.
  2. ^ The domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) also occurs as feral populations, sometimes in sympatry with Bubalus arnee.[21]

References

  1. ^ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61 (3): 537–574. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014. S2CID 2092950.
  2. ^ Stanford News Service Stanford News Service Retrieved April 3, 2016
  3. ^ Larramendi, A. (2016). "Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014. S2CID 2092950. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-08-24.
  4. ^ a b Larramendi, A. (2015). "Proboscideans: Shoulder Height, Body Mass and Shape" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.00136.2014. S2CID 2092950. Retrieved 23 May 2020. This is the range for 90% of the male population; see Table 8.
  5. ^ a b Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc. (1983), ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9
  6. ^ Grubb, Peter; Groves, Colin; Dudley, Joseph; Shoshani, Jeheskel (January 2000). "African forest elephant and african bush elephant". Elephant. 2 (4). doi:10.22237/elephant/1521732169.
  7. ^ "African Rhinoceros". viuzza.net. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Hippopotamus amphibius (hippopotamus)". Animal Diversity Web.
  9. ^ Weston, E.M.; Lister, A.M. (2009). "Insular dwarfism in hippos and a model for brain size reduction in Homo floresiensis". Nature. 459 (7243): 85–88. Bibcode:2009Natur.459...85W. doi:10.1038/nature07922. PMC 2679980. PMID 19424156. Adult range (males plus females; see Supplementary Discussion on page 15 of Supplementary Material); note mean mass = 1,495 kg.
  10. ^ Boitani, Luigi, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone Books (1984), ISBN 978-0-671-42805-1
  11. ^ Laurie, W.A.; Lang, E.M.; Groves, C.P. (1983). "Rhinoceros unicornis". Mammalian Species (211): 1–6. doi:10.2307/3504002. JSTOR 3504002. Weights are for captive males; see page 1.
  12. ^ Hillman-Smith, A.K.K..; Groves, C.P. (1994). "Diceros bicornis". Mammalian Species (455): 1–8. doi:10.2307/3504292. JSTOR 3504292. See page 2.
  13. ^ Dinerstein, E. (2003). The Return of the Unicorns; The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros. New York City: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-08450-5.
  14. ^ Hall-Martin, A.J. (1977). "Giraffe Weight Estimation Using Dissected Leg Weight and Body Measurements". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 41 (4): 740–745. doi:10.2307/3799999. JSTOR 3799999. Male weight range, from Table 1.
  15. ^ Owen-Smith, R. Norman, Megaherbivores: The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology. Cambridge University Press (1992), ISBN 978-0-521-42637-4
  16. ^ MacKinnon, J. (2008). "Gaur". In Smith, A. T.; Xie, Y. (eds.). A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 472. ISBN 9781400834112.
  17. ^ Friend, John B., Cattle of the World, Blandford Press, Dorset, 1978
  18. ^ "Hereford cattle weight". Archived from the original on 24 January 2015.
  19. ^ a b Meagher, M. (1986). "Bison bison". Mammalian Species (266): 1–8. doi:10.1093/mspecies/266.1. JSTOR 3504019. Male weight range, page 1.
  20. ^ Joel Berger; Carol Cunningham (June 1994). Bison: mating and conservation in small populations. Columbia University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-231-08456-7.
  21. ^ a b Aryal, A.; Shrestha, T.K.; Ram, A.; Frey, W.; Groves, C.; Hemmer, H.; Dhakal, M.; Koirala, R.J.; Heinen, J.; Raubenheimer, D. (2011). "Call to conserve the Wild Water Buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in Nepal" (PDF). International Journal of Conservation Science. 2 (4): 261–268. Retrieved 2020-05-25. See page 262.
  22. ^ Ahrestani, F.S.; Heitkönig, I.M.A.; Matsubayashi, H.; Prins, H.H.T. (2016). "Grazing and Browsing by Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia" (PDF). In Ahrestani, F.S.; Sankaran, M. (eds.). The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia. Ecological Studies. Vol. 225. Springer Netherlands. pp. 99–120. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-7570-0_4. ISBN 978-94-017-7568-7. ISSN 0070-8356. Retrieved 2020-05-25. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help) See page 104.
  23. ^ Han Jianlin, M. Melletti, J. Burton, 2014, Wild yak (Bos mutus Przewalski, 1883), Ecology, Evolution and Behavior of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation, Chapter 1, p.203, Cambridge University Press
  24. ^ Atlan, B. "Taurotragus derbianus". University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  25. ^ Boitani, Luigi, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals. Simon & Schuster/Touchstone Books (1984), ISBN 978-0-671-42805-1
  26. ^ a b Burnie D and Wilson DE (Eds.), Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife. DK Adult (2005), ISBN 0789477645
  27. ^ Groves, C. P.; Kurt, F. (1972). "Dicerorhinus sumatrenis" (PDF). Mammalian Species (21): 1–6. doi:10.2307/3503818. JSTOR 3503818. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2012.
  28. ^ Kingdon, J (1997). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11692-1.
  29. ^ "Animal Bytes – Common Eland". Seaworld.org. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
  30. ^ "Bactrian Camel". EdgeofExistence.org. EDGE. 2010.
  31. ^ "Bactrian Camel". UltimateUngulate.com.
  32. ^ "Dromedary, Arabian camel". ultimateungulate.com.
  33. ^ Cockrill, W. R. (1977). The water buffalo (PDF). Rome: Animal Production and Health Series No. 4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2013.
  34. ^ Cockrill, W. R., ed. (1974). The husbandry and health of the domestic buffalo. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  35. ^ Buchholtz, C. (1990). True Cattle (Genus Bos). pp. 386–397 in S. Parker, ed. Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, Volume 5. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. (quoted in Oliphant, M. (2003). Bos grunniens (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed 4 April 2009)
  36. ^ Derocher, A. E.; Wiig, Ø. (2002). "Postnatal growth in body length and mass of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) at Svalbard". Journal of Zoology. 256 (3): 343–349. doi:10.1017/S0952836902000377.
  37. ^ Hemstock, p. 4
  38. ^ Wood, G.L. (1983). The Guinness Book of Animal Records. Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9.
  39. ^ Christiansen, P. (1999). "What size were Arctodus simus and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)?". Annales Zoologici Fennici. 36 (2): 93–102. JSTOR 23735739.
  40. ^ Feldhamer, G. A.; Thompson, B. C.; Chapman, J. A. (2003). Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation. JHU Press. ISBN 9780801874161.
  41. ^ Wood, Gerald (1983). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9.
  42. ^ LaFee, Scott (2008-05-29). "Seeds of doubt". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  43. ^ [1] Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine (2011).
  44. ^ A. Hoogerwer, 1970, Udjung Kulon: The Land of the Last Javan Rhinoceros, Physical Details pp 167-171, Brill Archive
  45. ^ Pienaar, U. de V. (1969). "Observation on developmental biology, growth and some aspects of the population ecology of the African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer Sparrman) in the Kruger National Park". Koedoe. 12 (1). doi:10.4102/koedoe.v12i1.745. ISSN 2071-0771. Combined adult male range for Kruger National Park, South Africa (639.6-767.5 kg; Table 1, page ~56) and East Africa (678.6-835.1 kg; page 36)
  46. ^ Cape Buffalo, Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/animal/Cape-buffalo
  47. ^ "Moose". Env.gov.nl.ca. Archived from the original on January 2, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  48. ^ Franzmann, A. W. (1981). Alces alces. Mammalian Species, 1-7.
  49. ^ "Cervus elaphus". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  50. ^ Eide, Sterling. "Roosevelt Elk". Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Archived from the original on 5 June 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heaviest_land_mammals

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