As children, many of us learn about the wondrous process by which a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. The story usually begins with a very hungry caterpillar hatching from an egg.
The Largest Animal Ever: The Blue Whale. The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. At 30 metres (98 ft) in length and 180 metric tons (200 short tons) or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed.
Largest Land Animal: African Elephant Loxodonta africana. The largest African elephant weighed 13.5 tons (27,000 pounds) The world record holder weighed this much and stood 13ft/4m tall at the shoulder. There are other species of elephants, namely the Asian and the Indian, but they are much smaller than the African. The African elephant is the king among the giants on land.