Largest body part explained

The largest body part is either the largest given body part across all living and extinct organisms or the largest example of a body part within an existing species. The largest animals on the planet are not the only ones to have large body parts, with some smaller animals actually having one particularly enlarged area of the body.

Living animals

Blue whale

As the largest animal that has existed, the blue whale has the largest instance of several body parts.

• Its tongue weighs around 2.7t.^[1]
• Its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90t of food and water.^[2]
• Its heart typically weighs 600kg (1,300lb) and can reach 900kg (2,000lb) in exceptional cases^[3]
• Its aorta is about 23cm (09inches) in diameter.^[4]
• The blue whale's penis typically measures 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) to 3 metres (9.8 ft) and a diameter of 30 centimetres (12 in) to 36 centimetres (14 in).^[5]

Other animals

• The giant and colossal squids have the largest recorded eyes of any living animal, with a maximum diameter of at least 27cm (11inches).^[6] Only the extinct ichthyosaurs are known to have had larger eyes.
• The giraffe has the longest neck of any land mammal.^[7]
• The north Pacific right whale has the largest testes of any mammal.^[8]
• The walrus has the largest baculum of any mammal.^[9]
• The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan at 3.63m (11.91feet).^[10]
• The longest horns ever recorded belonged to a wild water buffalo and measured 4.24m (13.91feet) from tip to tip.^[11]
• The largest and heaviest brain belongs to the sperm whale, weighing around 9 kilograms.^[12]
• The Arctic lion's mane jellyfish may be the longest animal; the biggest had a bell (body) with a diameter of 2.28abbr=offNaNabbr=off and the tentacles reached 120feet. It was found washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870.^[13]
• Bootlace worms can reach great lengths. A specimen was measured at 55m (180feet) but this may be unreliable as the body is somewhat elastic.^[14]

In proportion to body size

• The Morgan's sphinx hawk moth has the longest proboscis in relation to its body size. Its 25–30 cm proboscis is over 3 times longer than its body. It is also known as Darwin's moth because Charles Darwin predicted its existence some 40 years before it was discovered from experiments he did on an orchid with a "foot long" nectary.^[15]
• The tube-lipped nectar bat has the longest tongue of any mammal in relation to its body size. Its 851NaN1 tongue is 1.5 times longer than its body, and must be kept inside its rib cage.^[16]
• The barnacle is the creature with the largest penis as a proportion of its body size.^[17]
• Among vertebrates, the Argentine blue-bill duck has the longest penis in relation to its body size.^[18]
• The vampire squid has the largest eyes of any animal relative to its size.^[19]
• The kiwi lays the largest egg of any bird relative to its size up to a quarter of the mass of the female.
• Viperfish have the largest teeth of any fish relative to its size.
• Shrews have the largest brain-to-body mass ratio of any animal, with brains that are 10% of body weight. Humans however have the largest encephalization quotient of any animal.^[20]
• Dogs have the largest heart-to-body mass ratio.^[21]
• The jerboa has the largest ear as a proportion of its body size.^[22]

Humans

• The longest bone in the human body is the femur.^[23]
• The largest artery is the aorta^[24] and the largest vein is the inferior vena cava.^[25]
• The largest internal organ (by mass) is the liver, with an average of 1.6kg (03.5lb).^[26]
• The largest external organ, which is also the largest organ in general, is the skin.^[27]
• The longest muscle is the sartorius muscle in the thigh.^[28]
• The longest single nerve is the sciatic nerve in the thigh, counting its branches and axons.

Individual human records

• • The person with the longest tongue is Nick Stoeberl of Salinas, California, United States, whose tongue measures 10.1cm (04inches).^[29]
• The woman with the longest legs is Maci Currin. At a height of 208.282NaN2, her legs measure 134.78cm (53.06inches).^[30]
• The woman with the longest fingernails is Lee Redmond. The total length of her fingernails is 7.513 meters.^[31] The person with the longest fingernails on one hand is Shridhar Chillal,^[32] the woman with the longest fingernails on one hand is Ayanna Williams.^[33]
• The longest head of hair belonged to Xie Qiuping of China and measured 5.627m (18.461feet) on 8 May 2004.^[34]
• The longest beard ever measured belonged to Hans Langseth of Norway; at his death in 1927 it was 5.33m (17.49feet) long.^{[35] [36]}
• The longest ear hair belongs to Victor Anthony of India, measuring 18.1 centimetres (7.12 inches).^[37]
• The largest feet belonged to Matthew McGrory. His left foot measured 17inches and he wore size 29 1/2 shoes.^[38]

Extinct animals

• The animals with the longest necks, up to 15m (49feet) in some cases, were plesiosaurs (such as Elasmosaurus and Mauisaurus) and sauropod dinosaurs (such as Mamenchisaurus, Sauroposeidon, and Supersaurus).

See also

• Largest organism
• Largest prehistoric organisms
• Giant animal (disambiguation)

Notes and References

1. Book: The Scientific Monthly. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1915. 21.
2. Web site: Contaminant analysis of organochlorines in blubber biopsies from Blue Whales in the St Lawrence. Trent University. Jason de Koning and Geoff Wild. 1997. 29 June 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070704145244/http://whale.wheelock.edu/bwcontaminants/welcome.html. 2007-07-04. dead.
3. "Animal Bytes - Blue Whale ". SeaWorld. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
4. Web site: Ms. Blue's Measurements . Caspar, Dave . April 2001 . 2006-09-01 . Seymour Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. . https://web.archive.org/web/20060918140222/http://www2.ucsc.edu/seymourcenter/PDF/2.%20Ms.%20B%20measurements.pdf . 2006-09-18 . dead .
5. Web site: Reproduction. University of Wisconsin. 3 October 2012.
6. Nilsson . D.-E. . Warrant . E.J. . Johnsen . S. . Hanlon . R. . Shashar . N. . 2012 . A unique advantage for giant eyes in giant squid . Current Biology . 22 . 8. 683–688 . 10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.031 . 22425154. free .
7. "Mammals: Giraffe". San Diego Zoo. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
8. Book: Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 21 January 2019. Elsevier Science. 978-0-12-813252-4.
9. Book: William F. Perrin. Bernd Wursig. J.G.M. 'Hans' Thewissen. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. 26 February 2009. Academic Press. 978-0-08-091993-5.
10. Web site: Largest Wingspan Of Any Living Bird . Guinness World Records . https://web.archive.org/web/20050409085552/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=50284 . 9 April 2005.
11. Web site: Longest Horns . Guinness World Records . https://web.archive.org/web/20051123012556/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=51205 . 23 November 2005.
12. "Physeter catodon, Sperm Whale". MarineBio. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
13. http://www.extremescience.com/GiantJellyfish.htm "Giant Jellyfish: Arctic Lion's Mane"
14. [Mark Carwardine|Carwardine, M.]
15. Web site: Beccaloni . George . Darwin and Wallace's Predictions Come True . The Alfred Russel Wallace Website . 23 April 2010 . 27 January 2013.
16. Web site: The animal that stows its tongue in its rib cage . Yahoo! News . 6 December 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061213093802/http://uk.news.yahoo.com/06122006/80-132/animal-stows-its-tongue-its-rib-cage.html . 13 December 2006.
17. Web site: Biology of Barnacles . Museum Victoria . https://web.archive.org/web/20060719092039/http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/barnbiol.html . 19 July 2006.
18. News: Mayell . Hillary . Evolutionary Oddities: Duck Sex Organ, Lizard Tongue . https://web.archive.org/web/20011026020635/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1023_corkscrewduck.html . dead . October 26, 2001 . National Geographic News . 23 October 2001 . 27 January 2013.
19. Book: Ellis, Richard . 1998 . Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss . Lyon Press . 978-1-558-21663-1. Quoted by: Web site: Wood . James B. . Introducing Vampyroteuthis infernalis, the vampire squid from Hell . The Cephalopod Page . 27 January 2013.
20. Roth. Gerhard. Ursula Dicke . Evolution of the brain and intelligence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. May 2005. 9. 5. 250–257. 10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.005. 15866152. 14758763.
21. Web site: February 13, 2018. 10 Amazinf AnimalHeart Facts. April 23, 2021. Veterinary Medicine News.
22. Web site: 2019-04-12 . This animal has the biggest ears on Earth (relative to size) . https://web.archive.org/web/20210301145733/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/biggest-ears-elephants-jerboa-bats . dead . March 1, 2021 . 2023-02-22 . Animals . en.
23. Web site: Dunleavy . Mara A. . Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Knee Joint . Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute . 27 January 2013.
24. Web site: Intro to Blood Vessels . Boston Scientific . 27 January 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121114112821/http://www.bostonscientific.com/templatedata/imports/HTML/CRM/heart/vessel_intro.html . 2012-11-14 . dead .
25. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jul2000/963290200.An.r.html "Re: What is the largest vein?"
26. Book: Norris . Maggie A. . Siegfried . Donna Rae . 2012 . Anatomy Essentials for Dummies . John Wiley & Sons . 106 . 978-1-118-18421-9.
27. Web site: Skin . National Geographic . 27 January 2013.
28. Harris, A. John . Duxson, Marilyn J. . Butler, Jane E. . Hodges, Paul W. . Taylor, Janet L. . Gandevia, Simon C. . Muscle fiber and motor unit behavior in the longest human skeletal muscle . The Journal of Neuroscience . 2005 . 25 . 37 . 8528–8533 . 10.1523/jneurosci.0923-05.2005 . 16162934. 6725658. free .
29. Web site: Longest Tongue . Guinness World Records . 28 April 2017.
30. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-legs-female "Longest legs on a person (female)"
31. "Longest Fingernails - Female". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
32. Web site: Check out the longest fingernails ever in Shridhar Chillal's Record Holder Profile Video . Guinness World Records . 28 May 2021 . 2015-09-29.
33. Web site: Gilbert . Asha C. . Texas woman cuts off her 24-foot nails after breaking Guinness World Record . USA TODAY . 28 May 2021.
34. "Longest hair". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
35. Web site: Longest beard – male . Guinness World Records . 27 January 2013.
36. http://www.hanslangseth.com "Hans Langseth"
37. "Longest Ear Hair". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
38. News: Longest toe. Guinness World Records. 2018-09-30. en-GB.