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List of heaviest land mammals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The heaviest land mammal is the African bush elephant, which has a weight of up to 10.1 t (11.1 short tons). It measures 10–13 ft (3–4 m) at the shoulder and consumes around 230 kg (500 lb) of vegetation a day. Its tusks have been known to reach 2.7 m (9 ft) in length, although in modern populations they are most commonly recorded at a length of 0.6–0.9 m (2 ft 0 in – 2 ft 11 in).[1] The average walking speed of an elephant is 7.2 km/h (4.5 mph), but they can run at recorded speeds of up to 24 km/h (15 mph).[2]

Heaviest extant land mammals

More information Rank, Common name ...
RankCommon nameImageFamilyTaxonomy
Classification		Mass[Note 1]
1 African bush elephant Elephantidae Loxodonta africana 5,200–10,000 kg (11,500–22,000 lb)[3][4]
2 Asian elephant Elephantidae Elephas maximus: E. m. indicus, E. m. maximus, E. m. sumatranus, E. m. borneensis 2,400–8,000 kg (5,300–17,600 lb)[5][4]
3 African forest elephant Elephantidae Loxodonta cyclotis 1,700–6,000 kg (3,700–13,200 lb)[6]
4 White rhinocerosRhinocerotidaeCeratotherium simum: Ceratotherium simum cottoni, C. s. simum 3,000–4,500 kg (6,600–9,900 lb)[7]
5 HippopotamusHippopotamidaeHippopotamus amphibius: H. a. amphibius, H. a. kiboko, H. a. capensis, H. a. tschadensis, H. a. constrictus 1,210–4,500 kg (2,670–9,920 lb)[8][9]
6 Indian rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Rhinoceros unicornis 2,070–4,000 kg (4,560–8,820 lb)[10][11]
7 Black rhinoceros Rhinocerotidae Diceros bicornis: D. b. minor, D. b. michaeli, D. b. longipes 850–2,896 kg (1,874–6,385 lb)[12]
8 Javan rhinocerosRhinocerotidae Rhinoceros sondaicus900–2,300 kg (2,000–5,100 lb)[13]
9 GiraffeGiraffidaeGiraffa camelopardalis: G. c. camelopardalis, G. c. reticulata, G. c. angolensis, G. c. antiquorum, G. c. tippelskirchi, G. c. rothschildi, G. c. giraffa, G. c. thornicrofti, G. c. peralta 700–2,000 kg (1,500–4,400 lb)[14][15]
10 GaurBovidaeBos gaurus: B. g. gaurus, B. g. readei, B. g. hubbacki 440–1,500 kg (970–3,310 lb)[16]
11 CattleBovidaeBos taurus, Bos indicus, Bos primigenius120–1,400 kg (260–3,090 lb)[17][18]
12 American bisonBovidaeBison bison: B. b. athabascae, B. b. bison 540–1,270 kg (1,190–2,800 lb) in wild,[19][20] and a semidomesticated bull weighed 1,724 kg (3,801 lb).[19]
13 Wild water buffaloBovidaeBubalus arnee[Note 2] 600–1,200 kg (1,300–2,600 lb)[21][22]
14 Wild yakBovidaeBos mutus500–1,200 kg (1,100–2,600 lb)[23]
15 Giant elandBovidaeTaurotragus derbianus: T. d. derbianus, T. d. gigas400–1,200 kg (880–2,650 lb)[24]
16 Water buffaloBovidaeBubalus bubalis300–1,100 kg (660–2,430 lb)[25][26]
17 GayalBovidaeBos frontalis650–1,000 kg (1,430–2,200 lb)[citation needed]
18 European bisonBovidaeBison bonasus500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb)[27][28]
19 Sumatran rhinocerosRhinocerotidaeDicerorhinus sumatrensis500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb)[29]
20 DromedaryCamelidaeCamelus dromedarius400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb)[30]
21 Common elandBovidaeTaurotragus oryx: T. o. livingstonii, T. o. oryx, T. o. pattersonianus400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb)[31][32]
22 Bactrian camelCamelidaeCamelus bactrianus, Camelus ferus300–1,000 kg (660–2,200 lb)[33][34]
23 YakBovidaeBos grunniens300–1,000 kg (660–2,200 lb)[35]
24 Polar bearUrsidaeUrsus maritimus300–1,000 kg (660–2,200 lb)[36][37][38]
25 Brown bearUrsidaeUrsus arctos: U. a. arctos, U. a. collaris, U. a. beringianus, U. a. isabellinus, U. a. gobiensis, U. a. lasiotus, Ursus arctos marsicanus, U. a. syriacus, U. a. pruinosus, U. a. horribilis, U. a. gyas,U. a. middendorffi, U. a. sitkensis, U. a. stikeenensis, U. a. nelsoni, U. a. crowtheri150–1,000 kg (330–2,200 lb)[39][40][41][42]
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See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    Entries are ordered by the median or mean body mass (in that order of preference), if available, or otherwise by the geometric mean of the body mass range limits.
  2. [2]
    The domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) also occurs as feral populations, sometimes in sympatry with Bubalus arnee.[21]

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