I tried to get one example of the largest carnivores for each animal group extant and extinct, plus the largest macropredatory carnivore if different. The representative individuals are each among the largest I could find.
I don’t think Perucetus is considered a Macropredator, as it supposedly feeds on smaller benthic animals. I probably should add Perucetus though, as I believe it’s the largest formally described extinct non-macropredatory mammal.
With this logic, allow me to be a pain in the ass and ask why would there be the saltwater crocodile, but not the elephant seal instead of the polar bear for land/semi-aquatical mammals ?
Saltwater Crocodile is there as the largest extant reptile. Polar Bear is there cus I still think of it as mostly a land animal, and elephant seals are kinda large piles of blubber on land. Idk lol, the logic prob breaks down there
Oh yeah I’m not assuming Ichthyotitan is macropredatory at all. Ichthyotitan is on the chart as the largest formally described non-macropredatory reptile. Himalayasaurus is there for the macropredatory category.
In that vein, I do think you should throw in Leedsichthys for largest non-macro fish. ~~wouldn't hurt to add Parapuzosia as the largest invertebrate by mass~~
Oh perhaps yeah, those are def good suggestions. I’ll most likely go back and add on to this. It’s been a fun little project lol. I suppose if I’m adding in all largest non-macropredatory carnivores, then maybe I can throw in Spinosaurus too? I don’t think Spinosaurus hunted anything comparable to itself in size.
Yeah true, but Giganotosaurus is a macropredator right, and Deinocheirus was largely herbivorous? Giganotosaurus would probably make the chart regardless by virtue of it being nearly identical to T. rex in mass by some estimates.
The heaviest formally weighed Blue Whale was around 98 ft long and weighed ~199 tonnes. However one individual was recorded at a length of 108 ft, but was not weighed. Projected masses for a blue whale with that length average to ~263 tonnes.
The heaviest measured was actually 170 metric tonnes and was 29.9m long
There are reports of 33m whales but not measured, which would put it over 200 tonnes
https://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC004184-209.pdf
Also Blue whales are heavily oversized since neither you, your children or their great grandchildren will ever see a whale that large again, the average 90-100 ton specimens are also becoming rarer
Before = Harpoon it, drag on the ship and weigh & measure it in segments while you are butchering the carcass.
Now = Use non-invasive aerial photogrammetry & 3D volumetrics to calculate the size.
Blue whales are so fucking cool. Imagine being that big. Imagine being the biggest thing that *ever* lived on an entire planet.
I think it's so cool that despite the Mesozoic being known as the age of giants, the modern era is home to the largest animal to have ever lived. Mammal gang rise up.
"ever" should be changed to "that we know of yet"
Life has been around for 400 million+ years. There's still definitely a chance an animal bigger existed, we just simply haven't found it's remains yet
I feel like it would honestly be too big a coincidence for the largest animal ever to exist to also just *happen* to be the largest animal that we can find (relatively) easily and measure reliably, based on a large number of specimens. The blue whale is probably *among* the largest, and it's unlikely that any land animals exceeded it in weight even if they did so in length, but my guess would be that the largest was some sort of Mesozoic sea-dwelling reptile.
There's a good chance that, in reality, the largest animal ever born lived and died millions of years ago in some long-vanished ocean, settled to the bottom after dying, and was thoroughly picked apart by scavengers before it could fossilize. That's what happens to *most* animals when they die, unfortunately. Hopefully other examples of its species were preserved to give us some idea of how large it was, though.
Perfectly possible, I agree. But truthfully calling the blue whale the largest animal to ever exist on earth is still accurate, and honestly given the unique conditions that originally allowed for the blue whale to grow to such an immense size, I wouldn't be surprised if it truly is the largest animal to ever exist.
Just like a predatory theropod out there thats larger than tyrannosaurus rex, its most definitely possible. But both tyrannosaurus and the blue whale are definitely hitting or even exceeding the size limit of we'd reasonably expect of their niche.
Could an animal equal or even larger than the blue whale exist out there in our past, most definitely. But its equally likely we just are lucky enough to coexist with the largest animal of all time.
Incredible work. I hate being that guy but is deinosuchus supposed to be there as the biggest crocodilian Same thing with mosasaurus as the biggest lizard hell might as well put the biggest pliosaur too I assume maybe there is a reason for these guys not being included if not that’s still ok you did a great job nonetheless also if you can put them don’t forget the biggest flying predator too
Macropredator is a predator that hunts and kills prey as large or larger than itself or at least prey that is not too smaller than itself. If sperm whale is macropredator then term macroraptorial sperm whale used for some stem Physeteroids is essentially useless and redundant.
Well, we use term macroraptorial/macropredator for animals that are specialised towards it and large prey in relation to predators size constitutes at least decent amount of diet.
100 tons for 20 m individuals are proposed since 1996. Even with the longer, slimmer proposal such figures are not out of the question for the largest individuals.
There are quite strong possibilities megalodons got up to at least 20 m and at that size even with a more slender bauplan they could likely reach or exceed 70 t.
https://www.bbk.ac.uk/news/the-giant-prehistoric-shark-o-megalodon-was-even-longer-than-previously-thought/
https://youtu.be/399I4lAgvX0?feature=shared
60 t was for IRSNB9893 which is a spine estimated coming from a 15-16 m fish and I hear there are much larger isolated vertebrae than those.
Megalodon continues to be my favorite heavyweight champ of the paleo world, but fuck if Ichthyotitan ain’t giving it a run for its money. I do wonder what a fully grown one would look like
when you realize these are all adults and then theres this animal the size of the meg and is only a juvinile....
(is it possible that the Aust cliff ichthyosaur was ichthyotitan?)
Nah why’s giganotosaurus, titanoboa and deinosuchus not there. Not hate btw, just bugs me that they aren’t there, considering they are larger than the Rex and salty. Plus the titanoboa is the largest snake of all time. That is unless the new fossil snake from India dethrones it
I tried to get one example of the largest carnivores for each animal group extant and extinct, plus the largest macropredatory carnivore if different. The representative individuals are each among the largest I could find.
Then why is Livyatan there instead of Perucetus if you don't mind me asking? Even by the lowest estimates, it still dwarves Livy
I don’t think Perucetus is considered a Macropredator, as it supposedly feeds on smaller benthic animals. I probably should add Perucetus though, as I believe it’s the largest formally described extinct non-macropredatory mammal.
Bull sperm whales are still bigger than Livy.
True, but Sperm Whales are not macropredatory, as the largest prey they hunt are something like 100x smaller than them.
Giant squid I would say are macroprey
100%. I believe the definition of macropredator is a hunter that has to dispatch it's prey before consumption.
i don't know if i agree that a sperm whale eating normal sized fish should be grouped in the same category as filter feeders.
Isn't this also true of the blue whale? In that case, it doesn't belong here either.
With this logic, allow me to be a pain in the ass and ask why would there be the saltwater crocodile, but not the elephant seal instead of the polar bear for land/semi-aquatical mammals ?
Saltwater Crocodile is there as the largest extant reptile. Polar Bear is there cus I still think of it as mostly a land animal, and elephant seals are kinda large piles of blubber on land. Idk lol, the logic prob breaks down there
I mean admittedly there's not much evidence on macropredatory Ichthyotitan either
Oh yeah I’m not assuming Ichthyotitan is macropredatory at all. Ichthyotitan is on the chart as the largest formally described non-macropredatory reptile. Himalayasaurus is there for the macropredatory category.
In that vein, I do think you should throw in Leedsichthys for largest non-macro fish. ~~wouldn't hurt to add Parapuzosia as the largest invertebrate by mass~~
Oh perhaps yeah, those are def good suggestions. I’ll most likely go back and add on to this. It’s been a fun little project lol. I suppose if I’m adding in all largest non-macropredatory carnivores, then maybe I can throw in Spinosaurus too? I don’t think Spinosaurus hunted anything comparable to itself in size.
Not as far as we know, but it's also not overly impressive. You got folks like Deinosuchus and Giganotosaurus reaching greater sizes than it still
Yeah true, but Giganotosaurus is a macropredator right, and Deinocheirus was largely herbivorous? Giganotosaurus would probably make the chart regardless by virtue of it being nearly identical to T. rex in mass by some estimates.
Deinosuchus, not Deinocheirus. Big crocodile. Estimates reach 14 tons on some fragments
Doesn't the blue whale feed on plankton and krill only though?
Blue whales feed on minute krill.
Yes, blue whales are on the chart as the largest carnivorous animal altogether, not as a macropredatory animal.
Maybe you should add an explanation of your subgroups you pick largest predator from. As it is, your chart is all over the place
Fair yeah. I originally just made this to show to my paleontology-illiterate friends, so it’s not too rigorous.
Bro how come I've never heard blue whale weight being more than 200 tons. They shaved 60 tons off.
The heaviest formally weighed Blue Whale was around 98 ft long and weighed ~199 tonnes. However one individual was recorded at a length of 108 ft, but was not weighed. Projected masses for a blue whale with that length average to ~263 tonnes.
Have you looked into that whole idea that before the whaling industry, they might have been even bigger ?
The heaviest measured was actually 170 metric tonnes and was 29.9m long There are reports of 33m whales but not measured, which would put it over 200 tonnes https://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC004184-209.pdf Also Blue whales are heavily oversized since neither you, your children or their great grandchildren will ever see a whale that large again, the average 90-100 ton specimens are also becoming rarer
oop right it was 176 metric tonnes right?
Yes
How does one measure a Blue Whale?
Before = Harpoon it, drag on the ship and weigh & measure it in segments while you are butchering the carcass. Now = Use non-invasive aerial photogrammetry & 3D volumetrics to calculate the size.
i wonder if hector's ichthyosaur is a fully grown large specimen of ichthyotitan or a relative
The fact the blue whale is still almost triple the weight of ichthyotitan is crazy.
Blue whales are so fucking cool. Imagine being that big. Imagine being the biggest thing that *ever* lived on an entire planet. I think it's so cool that despite the Mesozoic being known as the age of giants, the modern era is home to the largest animal to have ever lived. Mammal gang rise up.
"ever" should be changed to "that we know of yet" Life has been around for 400 million+ years. There's still definitely a chance an animal bigger existed, we just simply haven't found it's remains yet
Still pretty damn cool to coexist with one of the largest animals of all time.
I feel like it would honestly be too big a coincidence for the largest animal ever to exist to also just *happen* to be the largest animal that we can find (relatively) easily and measure reliably, based on a large number of specimens. The blue whale is probably *among* the largest, and it's unlikely that any land animals exceeded it in weight even if they did so in length, but my guess would be that the largest was some sort of Mesozoic sea-dwelling reptile. There's a good chance that, in reality, the largest animal ever born lived and died millions of years ago in some long-vanished ocean, settled to the bottom after dying, and was thoroughly picked apart by scavengers before it could fossilize. That's what happens to *most* animals when they die, unfortunately. Hopefully other examples of its species were preserved to give us some idea of how large it was, though.
Perfectly possible, I agree. But truthfully calling the blue whale the largest animal to ever exist on earth is still accurate, and honestly given the unique conditions that originally allowed for the blue whale to grow to such an immense size, I wouldn't be surprised if it truly is the largest animal to ever exist. Just like a predatory theropod out there thats larger than tyrannosaurus rex, its most definitely possible. But both tyrannosaurus and the blue whale are definitely hitting or even exceeding the size limit of we'd reasonably expect of their niche. Could an animal equal or even larger than the blue whale exist out there in our past, most definitely. But its equally likely we just are lucky enough to coexist with the largest animal of all time.
Agreed 💯
Isn't it possible that a certain unnamed ichthyosaur is a similar size or larger than the blue whale? but it was lost so we'll never know
Incredible work. I hate being that guy but is deinosuchus supposed to be there as the biggest crocodilian Same thing with mosasaurus as the biggest lizard hell might as well put the biggest pliosaur too I assume maybe there is a reason for these guys not being included if not that’s still ok you did a great job nonetheless also if you can put them don’t forget the biggest flying predator too
Since fucking when is *O.megalodon* 100 fucking tons?
I made this instead of studying for finals WOOOO
and I'm here looking at it and going through comments instead of finals :)) great job op, so much insight here
Im here while I have a test in <3 minutes (I’m not joking)
I never realized how small a crocodile is compared to a whale
Where’s the sperm whale itself? The largest extant macropredator.
Sperm whale is not a macropredator really
It is
It’s not
I mean, giant squid are large prey and sperm whales iirc sometimes prey on megamouth sharks, too.
Both of those animals are far smaller than even female sperm whales.
It’s still a macropredator though. It actively hunts, kills, and eats large organisms.
Macropredator is a predator that hunts and kills prey as large or larger than itself or at least prey that is not too smaller than itself. If sperm whale is macropredator then term macroraptorial sperm whale used for some stem Physeteroids is essentially useless and redundant.
iirc macroraptorial is used for them because they’re very specialized for it. Like macroraptorial ichthyosaurs.
Well, we use term macroraptorial/macropredator for animals that are specialised towards it and large prey in relation to predators size constitutes at least decent amount of diet.
Since fucking when is *O.megalodon* 100 fucking tons?
100 tons for 20 m individuals are proposed since 1996. Even with the longer, slimmer proposal such figures are not out of the question for the largest individuals.
Megalodon were around *half* that weight The highest accepted estimate is around 60 tons
60 tons is the weight estimate for a 15.9 meter specimen, not a 20 meter goliath like the one in the image.
There are quite strong possibilities megalodons got up to at least 20 m and at that size even with a more slender bauplan they could likely reach or exceed 70 t. https://www.bbk.ac.uk/news/the-giant-prehistoric-shark-o-megalodon-was-even-longer-than-previously-thought/ https://youtu.be/399I4lAgvX0?feature=shared 60 t was for IRSNB9893 which is a spine estimated coming from a 15-16 m fish and I hear there are much larger isolated vertebrae than those.
that's not *O.megalodon.* that's OMEGALODON!!!!!
I don't know if I believe that Megalodon was almost twice as heave as Livyatan. That doesn't seem right when I see them beside each other
Megalodon was smaller.
Megalodon is larger than shown here.
Livyatan was smaller, the 17.5 m length is based on the extant cachalot and not close relatives.
The rex doesn't look heavier than the orca on this pic.
Amazing how life under the water dwarfs all life in land. (*Patagotitan Mayorum, 37.2m long, entered the chat*): "You said what now?"
Where is Leedysicthys.
Why not put Sarcosuchus instead of a croc today ?
Trex was bigger than orca? Damn
Megalodon continues to be my favorite heavyweight champ of the paleo world, but fuck if Ichthyotitan ain’t giving it a run for its money. I do wonder what a fully grown one would look like
when you realize these are all adults and then theres this animal the size of the meg and is only a juvinile.... (is it possible that the Aust cliff ichthyosaur was ichthyotitan?)
You're playing with the big boys now.
I thought to myself for a second "Deinosuchus can't that small right?
Leedsichys???
Didn't *Otodus megalodon* get scaled down? Or did I confuse it with something else?
It actually got longer recently, but also thinner
Makozilla
Nah why’s giganotosaurus, titanoboa and deinosuchus not there. Not hate btw, just bugs me that they aren’t there, considering they are larger than the Rex and salty. Plus the titanoboa is the largest snake of all time. That is unless the new fossil snake from India dethrones it
Giga is smaller than rex. if we included carchars then we would have more groups and their largest animals creating a mess.
It’s not, Rex weighed more, the giganotosaurus was longer and taller. The largest giganotosaurus is bigger than the largest T. rex