Explain Stuff – World’s Strongest Animal – Amazing fact of the day

The term “strongest animal” can be misleading, but most often it refers to how much an animal can lift relative to its own weight. Let’s see the world’s strongest animals in terms of different standards :

Until recently (2007), it was thought that the Rhinoceros beetle was the world’s strongest animal by this standard, capable of lifting 850 times its own weight. This is comparable to a 68 kg human lifting a 67 ton . Some of the largest Rhinoceros beetles weigh 120 grams, making them capable of carrying about 100 kg (220 lb). This means that a strong Rhinoceros beetle would be capable of carrying a heavy man.

But in 2007, Michael Heethoff and Lars Koerner measured the strength of a tropical mite, Archegozetes longisetosus, finding it has a pull force equal to 1150 times its own weight, five times more than expected for an organism of its size (1 mm, 100 µg). There are probably many other mites who might compete for the title of strongest animal. To put this strength in human terms, this would be like a 68 kg human lifting an 86 ton , or an elephant with a tower of 1150 elephants on its back.

The strongest animal on land in terms of absolute strength is likely the African Bush Elephant, whose weight can range up to 13 tons, and whose carrying capacity is at least 5 tons. Despite this, African Bush Elephants are afraid of some tiny insects, like honey bees. When scared or upset, an African Bush Elephant can run at 40 km/h (25 mph), which gives you an idea of its strength.

The strongest animal in general is the Blue Whale, weighing above 209 tons, with a length of 30 m (100 ft). It can travel up to 50 km/h (30 mph) in short bursts. The kinetic energy of a whale at such a speed probably outclasses any other animal by an order of magnitude.

Historically, some of the largest dinosaurs (like Brachiosaurus or Supersaurus) were stronger than any living animal.