Among the awe-inspiring giants that roam Earth, one species stands out as the largest land animal currently known. This title belongs to the African Bush Elephant.
The African Bush Elephant’s Grand Scale
The African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana), also known as the African savanna elephant, is the largest living terrestrial animal. Adult males are distinguished by their sheer size, reaching an average shoulder height of 3.04 to 3.36 meters (10 to 11 feet), with some individuals growing as tall as 4 meters (13 feet).
Adult males typically weigh between 5,200 and 6,900 kilograms (11,000 to 15,000 pounds). The largest recorded African Bush Elephant bull reached a shoulder height of 3.96 meters (13 feet) and an estimated body mass of 10.4 tonnes (23,000 pounds). This substantial mass is supported by a robust skeletal structure and powerful musculature, enabling the elephant to navigate its environment.
African Bush Elephants possess large, sail-shaped ears that can measure up to 2 meters by 1.5 meters (6 feet 7 inches by 4 feet 11 inches), which aid in thermoregulation by dissipating body heat. They also have a long, prehensile trunk with two finger-like processes at the tip, used for a variety of tasks including breathing, smelling, grasping objects, and consuming vegetation. These elephants inhabit a diverse range of habitats across sub-Saharan Africa, including savannas, grasslands, woodlands, and even some desert areas. They are herbivores, consuming about 150 kg (330 lbs) of vegetation daily to sustain their massive bodies.
Comparing Land Animal Sizes
While the African Bush Elephant holds the title for the largest living land animal, understanding its size involves comparing it to other large terrestrial species, both present and past. The Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is the second heaviest terrestrial animal, with males weighing around 5,500 kg (12,125 pounds) and reaching a shoulder height of up to 3.5 meters (11.5 feet). This makes them smaller than their African counterparts.
Other notable large land animals include the White Rhinoceros, which can weigh between 1,800 to 2,500 kg (4,000 to 5,500 pounds), and the Hippopotamus, with an average weight of around 2,350 kg (5,180 pounds). Giraffes, while the tallest land animals, reaching up to 5.5 meters (18 feet) in height, are significantly lighter than elephants, typically weighing around 800 to 1,200 kg (1,760 to 2,640 pounds). The Polar Bear, the largest land predator, averages around 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,320 pounds) for males. These comparisons further emphasize the African Bush Elephant’s superior mass.
It is important to distinguish between currently living land animals and extinct giants. The largest land animals of all time were certain sauropod dinosaurs. Argentinosaurus, a titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous period, is estimated to have weighed between 60 and 100 tonnes (132,000 to 220,000 pounds) and measured 30 to 35 meters (98 to 115 feet) in length. Patagotitan, another massive titanosaur, had estimated weights ranging from 50 to 71.4 tonnes (110,000 to 157,000 pounds) and lengths up to 37 meters (121 feet). While the African Bush Elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal, the largest animal overall on Earth is the Blue Whale, a marine mammal that can weigh up to 190 tonnes (418,000 pounds) and reach lengths of 30 meters (98 feet).