1. African giant snail
The Ghanaian giant snail, sometimes also called the giant snail, is a large, voracious mollusk, sometimes over 30 centimeters in length.
Native to East Africa, this gastropod is no ordinary slow eater. This is the largest snail on Earth.
Its size is impressive and so is its appetite. These snails are not picky eaters, they will gobble up almost anything they come across. Their menu includes more than 500 types of plants, these snails have the ability to turn lush landscapes into barren land with incredible speed. Because they eat so much and give birth to many young, they are considered one of the most invasive species in the world.
2. Chinese giant salamander
The giant salamander Andrias davidianus is one of the largest and most unique salamander species in the world. This amphibian native to central and eastern China can grow up to 1.8 meters long and weigh nearly 60 kilograms. This makes it the largest extant amphibian on the planet.
Historically, giant salamanders have always been thought to be a single species, but in recent research, researchers have distinguished them into three distinct species from southern, central and eastern China.
One of the newly named species, Andrias sligoi, or the South Chinese giant salamander, is believed to be the largest of the three, reaching nearly 2 meters in length.
The Chinese giant salamander, unlike many other amphibians, has a long lifespan, some of which can outlive the average person.
They can live up to 30 years in the wild and even up to 60 years in captivity. The lifespan of wild and captive Chinese giant salamanders varies from their food and living conditions. While wild salamanders fend for themselves, where they can get sick and die, and face more threats, captive salamanders benefit from medical care and protection from other threats. Hunter.
3. Giant fruit bats
Giant fruit bats often live in groups. However, not all fruit bats are gigantic: the smallest are only 6 cm long. However, the largest species, the giant fruit bats (sometimes called flying foxes) are different, they have the longest forearm length of any species, measuring up to 21.5cm. Their wingspan also has an impressive length of 1.5m to 1.7m, enough to cover an average-sized human.
Like all bats, this giant bat lives in trees with sharp claws and sleeps hanging upside down. They have good eyesight and use their eyesight to fly and forage for food. This species of bat can now only be found in the Maitum forest, southern Philippines.
These bats are thought to be quite scary, but in fact, they are completely harmless. This species of bat mainly eats fruits and leaves and their main food source is figs. They can fly up to 40km per night in search of food. These bats spend most of the day sleeping because they are also nocturnal like other bats.
The giant fruit bat is currently protected by international conventions and is on the endangered wildlife list. However, even if this species of bat is protected by international law, poaching and trade still take place. Between 1986 and 2016, their numbers fell by more than 50%.
4. Giant freshwater stingray
Not all stingrays live in the ocean – in fact, the largest live in the Mekong River.
Giant freshwater stingray or Mekong River stingray is a species of freshwater stingray in the family Dasyatidae of the order Myliobatiformes distributed in the Indochinese peninsula and the Indonesian island of Borneo.
At more than 2.2 meters wide, these aquatic giants are among the largest fish in the world. But despite its huge size, to us, these animals are still elusive creatures. Their flat bodies allow them to bury themselves in the riverbed and disappear from sight. Worse still, the giant freshwater stingray is threatened by overfishing and habitat degradation due to deforestation, land development and dams. Giant freshwater stingrays usually weigh 500 to 600 kg.
5. Jellyfish Nomura
When it comes to jellyfish, many people will think that they are cute little creatures with a transparent appearance like crystal. However, in fact, the vast ocean out there exists many large jellyfish species. And the giant jellyfish below is also one of them.
The diameter of Nomura jellyfish can be longer than the average height of a man. When mature, they reach a length of about 2m in diameter, weighing more than 220kg. Nomura jellyfish live mainly in the waters between China and Japan (central Yellow Sea and China Sea area).
In the past, this type of creature mainly lived in the deep sea, but due to the destruction of the marine ecological environment, plus global warming in recent years, their behavior has changed. .
The point worth mentioning is that the Nomura jellyfish is not only large in size, but also possesses high toxicity. If accidentally touched, the stings they cause can be life-threatening.
From 2005 to now, they have been a disaster for the fishing industry in the marine areas of Japan. They cause unintentional attacks on fishing boats, as well as significantly affect the food balance chain in the sea.