| MadSci Network: Zoology |
Patrick, Yes, the blue whale probably is the biggest animal that ever lived. They usually grow to around 110 tonnes, but one female was estimated to be nearly 160 tonnes ! The biggest dinosaurs discovered are the sauropods such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. Some of these species are estimated to have weighed over 50 tonnes, and a recently discovered species, Argentinosaurus may have approached 100 tonnes, but only a few bones have been excavated, and it is difficult to reconstruct the whole animal from such evidence. There is probably a limit to the body-size that can be supported on land by four legs made of muscle and bone, whereas a whale is always supported by water no matter how big it gets. This is why the largest species of whale is always likely to come out on top in the sheer size stakes. Questions about the estimated sizes of the largest animals are always popular, and vast numbers of websites address such questions. I entered 'dinosaur biggest' in a popular search engine and among the first few sites were: http://www.zoomwhales.com/subjects/dinosaurs/questions/faq/Biggest.shtml and http://www.ZoomDinosaurs.com/subjects/whales/species/Bluewhale.shtml Which both provide lots of info.
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Zoology.