Top Ten Animals that are the Largest of Their TypeCrimsonShark IMPORTANT: This list, while ranking animals by size, is not relegated by just size alone. Rather, there will be specific records to which animal will be largest in its own genus, family, order and class. The reason for this is to avoid this list from almost entirely consisting of sauropod dinosaurs and whales.
The Top Ten
The Blue Whale reaches to about 30 meters and weighs about a 100 tonnes. Despite its massive size, its favourite diet was mostly composed of krill and shrimp. The Blue Whale is also known to be one of the loudest animals, reaching up to about 188 decibels. - CrimsonShark
I know that this is #2, but the fact that it is any lower than #1 is strange. Largest aquatic animal? It's also the largest animal EVER DISCOVERED. How could anything be higher than it. - DrummerBoyJack
Not only are they the largest marine animal, but they're the LARGEST ANIMAL TO EVER EXIST.
Sounds like they are not quite as big as Argentinosuarus.
Not true. The blue whale is slightly bigger and undoubtedly the largest species ever measured. I think it's weird that it wouldn't be number 1. - DrummerBoyJack
A titanosaurian sauropod from the Cretaceous Period, Argentinosaurus could reach lengths of up to 35-39 meters and weights over a 100 tonnes. Argentinosaurus may have spent much of its day eating due to its ridiculous build and size and there are evidence to support that it indirectly killed much animals. This can be because their feet exhibit such force that when pressed against mud, it left behind a quicksand, arguably about the same size as a large sauropod's feet. - CrimsonShark
Spinosaurus was the last and largest of the Spinosaurus family class. It was able to reach lengths of up to 16-18 meters, but despite its large and fearsome appearance, its preferred diet happened to be fish. Spinosaurus also lived in the same time and space as another large predator, the Charcharadontosaurus, but we're able to coexist without trouble to to having different dieting preferences. - CrimsonShark
A legendary animal with a notorious reputation in cultural media, the Megalodon reaches lengths of about 18 meters, with its mouth being 2.7-by-3.4 meter mouth and its teeth estimating at least 7.1 inches. The Megalodon ha since gone one to become a popular figure for extinct animals, usually appearing in films as an antagonistic monster. Interesting, there are rumors that the Megalodon still exists. Although unlikely, it is possible, considering about 95% of the oceans are still unexplored... - CrimsonShark
An azhdarchidae pterosaur during the Late Cretaceous, Quetzalcoatlus is estimated to have a wingspan of about 10-11 meters, and reaching 5 meters in length. Unlike most other pterosaurs which normally scooped food from watery surfaces like lakes and seas, Quetzalcoatlus was a preferred land scavenger, feasting on dinosaur corpses whenever it got its chance. It could be possible that the giant pterosaur hunted and fed on infant dinosaurs, rodents and fish as well.
P.S. I was going to consider Arambourgiania, but however, claims of it being a 11-13 meter long pterosaur, contemporary research states that it is more leaning to about 7 meters in wingspan. - CrimsonShark
A sauropod in Early Cretaceous North America, Sauroposeidon reached lengths of about 34 meters, making it one of the largest known dinosaurs. Its biggest record however is its towering build, with the animal's head being 18 meters above the ground. It was also the last known sauropod discovered in North America, until the arrival of the Alamosaurus 40 million years later. - CrimsonShark
An extinct species of bird found in Madagascar, the Elephant Bird reached three meters in height and weighed about 500 kilograms. Another notable feature are the eggs laid by Elephant Birds, which are said to be around 34 centimeters in length, making them largest known bird eggs discovered. Although the reason of its extinction is disputed, human activity is most suspected. - CrimsonShark
The Haast's Eagle from Australia had a wingspan of about 2.6 to 3 meters in length. However, their bulk was large for an eagles, with females reported to be bigger than males. Female reached about 10-15 kilograms and males reaching 9-12 kilograms. The Haast's Eagle's main diet consisted of a large flightless bird called the Moa. The extinction of the Haast's Eagle can be linked to the Moa's: Humans would hunt the Moa for food, which would ultimately deplete the Haast's Eage from its main food source. - CrimsonShark
The Paraceratherium was a species of hornless rhino, native to Eurasia. The mammal is estimated to be weigh 15-20 tonnes and reaches a length of 7.4 meters and a height of 4.8 meters. The Paraceratherium's traits included a proboscis, its undeniably massive size that dwarfs most animals and could be hunted by few and its low reproductive rate, the latter which could have been a contributing factor to its extinction. - CrimsonShark
I love whale sharks
While it can't beat the size of the long-extinct megalodon, the whale shark is arguably the largest known extant fish species. According to Wikipedia, the largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 m (41.5 ft) and a weight of about 21.5 t (47,000 lb). As a sole member of the genus Rhincodon, the whale shark has several records of its sheer size in the animal kingdom, including being the largest living non-mammalian vertebrate. - ModernSpongeBobSucks
Cotylorhynchus is a species of synapsid dating back to the Early Permian Period. It was one of the largest synapsids and animals of the Permian Period, reaching lengths of 3 meters. Although they are normally seen to be terrestrial, they have have been aquatic at times. - CrimsonShark
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2. Blue Whale (Largest Aquatic Animal)
3. Spinosaurus (Largest Land Predator)