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.
View full size image. Diving to depths of 328 feet (100 meters) to munch on millions of krill each day, the blue whale takes the prize for the largest creature alive (and ever to exist!). These blue-gray giants extend about 80 to 100 feet (24.4 to 30.5 m) in length and weigh about 400,000 pounds (181,437 kilograms).