Animal including salt water, hydrothermal vents, fresh water, hot springs, swamps, forests, pastures, deserts, air, and the interiors of animals, plants, fungi and rocks. Animals are however not particularly heat tolerant; very few of them can survive at constant temperatures above . Only very few species of animals (mostly nematodes) inhabit the most extreme cold deserts of continental Antarctica. The blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus") is the largest animal that has ever lived, weighing up to 190 metric tonnes and measuring up to long. The largest extant terrestrial animal is the African bush elephant ("Loxodonta africana"), weighing up to 12.25 tonnes and
Largest prehistoric animals measured long. An extinct megatoothed shark, "C. megalodon" is by far the biggest shark known. This giant shark reached a total length of more than . "C. megalodon" may have approached a maximum of in total length and in mass. The largest-known symmoriid was "Stethacanthus" at long. The largest-known eugenedont is a yet unnamed species of "Helicoprion" discovered in Idaho. The specimens suggest an animal that possibly exceeded in length. Another fairly large eugenedont is Parahelicoprion. The specimens suggest an animal that grew to the same size (), but was much less slender and overall less heavy. The largest-known hydontiformid