Appearances are deceptive. Often, creatures of nature with tiny dimensions lift or move a weight many times greater than the mass of their own bodies.
What representatives of the fauna world, whose power is hundreds of times greater than human, are the most powerful animals on the planet?
Fifth place - African elephant
The gigantic inhabitants of the African savannahs are not only the most powerful, but also the largest of the mammals that inhabit the land of the planet. The height at the shoulders of these giants reaches 4 m, body length - 7.5 m. Weight ranges from 5 to 7.5 tons. To match the impressive size and physical strength of the titans. Elephants easily carry a weight of 8000 kg, which exceeds the mass of an adult. They have no enemies among their neighbors in the habitat - even ferocious leopards and lions dare not attack giant athletes.
The head of a noble animal is decorated with a trunk consisting of 40 muscles, the length of which varies from 1.5 to 1.8 m. The flexible process serves the mammal as a respiratory organ, as a tool for food extraction, and as a formidable weapon. With its help, an elephant can both carry loads weighing 270 kg, and lift the smallest objects from the ground. The extraordinary abilities of the savannah giants are used by local residents for economic purposes. In some villages, elephants are considered pets and, with good care, live next to people under 80.
Fourth Place - Leaf Cutter Ant
The zealous inhabitants of the anthills of South and Central America cannot boast the dimensions of elephants, but their strength is several times greater than the power of land giants. Hymenoptera insects, whose body length varies from 5 to 20 mm, lift weights 30 or 50 times their own weight. It exceeds human capabilities by 25 times. With sharp jaws, tireless workers cut pieces of leaves and transport them to the nest.
Each member of the “estate” weighing 7–9 mg carries up to 100 mg of cargo. With him, a tiny athlete can even run head down and move along slippery stems, using strong paws, the size of which depends on the caste. Ants do not use their prey for the construction of "housing" and not for eating. Insects carefully chew parts of the leaves and use the formed substance as compost for growing mushrooms. Their juice, rich in nutrients, is the basis of the menu of miniature creations.
Third place - rhinoceros beetle
The record set by ants was broken by the inhabitants of European deciduous forests, for which lifting weights 850 times their own weight is not a problem. Dressed in dark brown or red-brown armor, rhinoceros beetles grow to 47 mm. The head of adult males is decorated with a trihedral outgrowth, bent backward, forming a bend. The appointment of the horn to biologists is still unknown.
The second riddle of the insect is its diet.The oral apparatus of this representative of the winged wing detachment is almost not developed, the teeth are absent, and the masticatory muscles are extremely weak. Among entomologists there is an opinion that beetles live off the reserve reserves of nutrients accumulated by the larva. Another paradox is the ability of an insect to fly, contrary to the laws of aerodynamics. The German physicist Karl Friedrich von Weizsacker believed that by understanding the principle of the movement of a rhinoceros beetle in the air, scientists will know the principle of operation of a flying saucer.
Second place - dung beetle
Unlike their many brothers in appearance, representatives of the family of dung-diggers chose animal excrement as food. Having found the dunghill, the beetles form a ball out of it, and then roll their prey to the hole. There they produce the most expensive - their larvae. The size of the trophy is several times larger than the dimensions of the insect, whose body length reaches 70 mm. According to scientists, an adult is able to move a load with a mass equivalent to 1141 of its own weight.
Entomologists have about 600 species of dung beetles. Their range extends from the neo-Arctic zone to the tropical forests of Asia and Africa. Insects live in underground burrows, forming small colonies. The role of beetles in the ecosystem is invaluable. They process the excrement of mammals, contributing to the rapid decomposition of manure into organic components. This feature is highly regarded by farmers. And in ancient Egypt, the scarab, which is a representative of the family of excavators, was considered a holy idol.
The strongest animal in the world
The strongest animal in the world is copepod. - planktonic creation, whose dimensions range from 1 to 3 mm. Miniature creatures living in the depths of rivers, seas and lakes are 15-30 times stronger than any other species that inhabits the planet. The secret of the extraordinary power of a tiny resident of the water element is the presence in the microscopic body of two movement systems at once. Thanks to them, copepods do not know the feeling of physical fatigue.
The life of the copepod crustacean takes place in a constant drift in the water column. But sometimes the copepod shows miracles of acrobatics and takes off above the surface of the sea at a distance 500 times the length of its body. For a rapid jump, the creature uses the jerky force of five pairs of its tiny legs and rises into the air at a speed of 3-6 km / h. The unique possibilities of the copepods interested scientists. Scientists all over the world are studying the jumping abilities of tiny unique ones for their use in the technology of creating robots and ultra-fast engines.
Laurels in the ranking of the most powerful animals went to the tiny inhabitants of the planet - copepod, dung beetle, rhinoceros beetle and ant. They are capable of lifting and moving weights, tens or hundreds of times greater than the mass of their own bodies. The only representative of the class of mammals that made up the company of miniature athletes of the fauna world is the largest African elephant in sushi.
