The most-most mammals - who are they? Mother Nature has many amazing puzzles and facts. It only at first glance seems that you can learn about everything and know everything. No, it’s impossible, just like it’s impossible to read all the books. Because the more people make discoveries, the more new, much more complex tasks the Universe poses for them. The question of which is the largest mammal in the world is no longer relevant - every preschooler knows about it. Nevertheless, reading something new about an amazing creature - a blue whale - is always interesting.
So say the legends
In ancient times, when people sincerely believed that the edge of the earth exists, as there are jealous and vengeful gods, when food was obtained by hunting and fishing, our distant ancestors had great respect for nature and animals.
Knowing almost nothing about the representatives of the fauna, they came up with wonderful fairy tales, which, thanks to amazing poetry, entered the golden fund of culture and art. The largest representative of mammals, the blue whale, often became the hero of these tales. Often he was assigned the role of a sort of chthonic monster, which is of great importance in the structure of our world. For example, one of the Arab legends says that the whale Bahamut, plowing the expanses of the ocean, holds on the mighty back of the bull Kuyutu, who, in turn, supports a huge ruby rock. An angel stands on this rock, and it is his responsibility to monitor what is happening in the world.
Sea monsters
I would like to note that the ancient sailors called the whale not only the largest mammal in the world, but, in general, any
inhabitants of the sea depths, the sizes of which inspired both panic horror and involuntary admiration.
Several medieval treatises are known about the so-called giant octopus, whose hobby was tipping ships and boats and devouring sailors. The same "horrors" were told about the whale, and a little later, the peoples of Scandinavia appeared several interesting stories about the "good" and "evil" sea giants. Angry, hating sailors and fishermen, they only did what they sailed across the seas and oceans in search of people, and when they found it, there was no mercy for them ... But the good ones, on the contrary, tried to protect people, and if possible help bring the ship to safe place.
The legend of how a certain Benedictine monk traveling in search of the "promised land", sailing along the Atlantic Ocean, also noticed a marvelous island. Having made a prayer, the monk descended on what seemed to him to be the earth, built an altar there, and offered prayers to God. And already after, together with his team, the monk sailed a decent distance, the “island” stirred, and ... just sailed away. It is noteworthy that in medieval Christian theologians the whale was considered a symbol of the "father of lies", but Muslims are still convinced that the largest mammal on Earth is among the ten lucky people who live in paradise.
The most, the most, the most ...
Modern scientists, who have long had no doubt that the blue whale is the titan of the animal world, have recently discovered a real giant, whose weight is as much as 200 tons, and its size is more than thirty-four meters, which equals the height of a nine-story building. Could such a whopper have seemed to the unlucky monk a "mysterious island"? By the way, the heart of a whale weighs about a ton - 700 kilograms, and the tongue - 4000 kilograms.
Interesting Facts
The blue whale is not only the largest mammal in the world, but also the most mysterious. Until now, scientists have not really known anything about these amazing creatures, which, of course, only fuels interest in them. In particular, the scarcity of information is explained by the fact that whales live in the open ocean, and it is rather difficult to observe their behavior.
However, not so long ago, a team of scientists managed to capture the amazing moments of feeding these animals, as well as how they let out their legendary fountains. As it turned out, by releasing a jet about fifteen meters high, the whales breathe. They feed near the water surface, and their main diet is krill, the smallest representative of the fauna world. A funny paradox is that the giant of the animal world eats “dwarfs”! .. In order to exist normally, whales need to eat about four million krill, therefore it is not surprising that they spend a lot of time hunting.
Entertaining features
The largest mammal in the world has truly unique characteristics. For example, these massive, powerful creatures are surprisingly graceful and even elegant. Diving spectacularly into the depths of more than a hundred meters, they can be there for an hour or more, and swim at a speed of 42 kilometers per hour. The low, strange sounds they make underwater are about 188 decibels. For comparison: the most powerful aircraft "talk" with an intensity of 140 decibels.
Intelligent creatures
Not so long ago, researchers made an interesting discovery: it turns out that the largest mammal in the world is also one of the smartest. The intelligence of the blue whale inspires respect, as for his speech, here all those who are engaged in observations are simply shrug. It is still impossible to decipher the “conversations” of the blue whales, and now it is only known that their “singing” is much more complex, and, so to speak, meaningful than was thought several years ago. In the "speech" of the whales there are many word-like elements that are very similar to human sentences. It is surprising that these "sentences" are structured in such a way that, if desired, informative phrases can be heard. Communicating, the whales look for a spouse, lost children, notify the water world of their presence, and warn the enemy about their willingness to attack.
And also? ..
With whales, everything is clear, although, essentially speaking, almost nothing is clear. Huge, peaceful, mysterious, infinitely wise - they will always attract the minds of scientists and just nature lovers. But to solve the riddle of these amazing creatures is hardly possible. And what are the largest mammals in the world?
Probably, the primacy should be given to the powerful African elephant, whose dimensions reach 8 meters in length and 3.3 meters in height. The weight of this land titanium is approximately 6 tons. This animal does not have natural enemies, however small elephants are, of course, defenseless against hyenas, leopards, lions and crocodiles. But it should be borne in mind that elephants zealously protect their children, and predators have practically no chance to enjoy the elephant calf ... So only humans were and will be the most dangerous enemy of elephants.
In addition to the whale, the land elephant has another waterfowl - the southern elephant seal, which is today considered the largest carnivore. The size of these creatures reaches three meters, and the weight is 4000 kg.
The largest mammals are always of great interest to those who love and appreciate nature. Watching these creatures, it is impossible not to think about the fact that our world, if people wish, can become a real paradise on earth ...