Question 1: the correct answer is Blue whale. Did you get it right? Score 1 point.
Question 2 of 10
Which is the only mammal capable of flying by flapping its wings?
Why, in question 1: What is the largest animal alive on the planet today?
The answer is the blue whale. It can grow over 30 meters long and weigh more than 100 tons, far more than any land animal. The African elephant is the largest animal on land, and the whale shark is the largest fish, but both fall far behind.
The giants of each environment
Each environment has its record holder. On land, a male African elephant can exceed 6 tons and reach nearly 4 meters at the shoulder. In the air, the wandering albatross has the largest wingspan among living birds: from tip to tip, its outstretched wings can exceed 3 meters.
In water, the body is supported by buoyancy, which helps explain why the largest animals live in the sea. An animal the size of a blue whale would have enormous difficulty supporting its own weight on dry land.
Even among cetaceans, size varies greatly. The blue whale is the largest, followed by other giants such as the fin whale, while some small dolphin species measure just over 1 meter.
Despite its enormous size, the blue whale was hunted almost to extinction in the 20th century. Since commercial whaling was banned, some populations have begun to recover, but the species is still considered endangered.
