List of Worlds Largest Body Parts
There is fascinating diversity among life on Earth, with all these different creatures that come in varying shapes and sizes. Naturally, we expect the world’s largest body parts to belong to the largest members of the animal kingdom, but there are other animals who boast of having the biggest body parts among their own kind.
HEART
The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is considered as the largest living animal in the world, so it is only natural for it to possess some of the world’s largest body parts. Its heart is the biggest and heaviest, weighing 600 kilograms (1,320 pounds) and in certain cases, even up to 900 kg. It also has an aorta with a diameter of 23 centimeters (9 inches).
MOUTH AND TONGUE
The largest mouth of any animal alive still belongs to the Blue Whale, capable of holding up to 90 tons or 100 short tons in water and food. Within that mouth is located the world’s largest tongue, which weighs about 2.7 tons or 3 short tons. On the other hand, the world’s longest tongue in proportion to an animal’s body size belongs to the Tube-lipped Nectar Bat (Anoura fistulata), which measures 86 millimeters (3.4 in), 1.5 times lengthier than its 58 mm (2.3 in) body.
As for the human tongue, one Stephen Taylor has the longest tongue on a human male, measuring 9.8 cm (3.86 in). The longest female tongue belongs to Annika Irmler, which measured 7 cm (2.76 in).
EYES
The largest eyes in the world are known to belong to the Atlantic Giant Squid (genus: Architeuthis), measuring approximately 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. However, it is also believed that the eyes of the Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) could be even larger. But the animal with the largest eyes relative to their size is the Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis).
NECK AND TAIL
It’s not surprising that the world’s longest neck would belong to the Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). But aside from that, the giraffe also has the longest tail among all land-dwelling mammals.
HORNS
The Wild Asian Water Buffalo (Bubalus arnee) has the longest horns recorded, which measure 4.24 m (13 ft 11 in), while the longest horns on average belong to the Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros).
BRAIN
The brain of the Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is not only the largest; it is also the heaviest, weighing approximately 9 kg. But the animals with the biggest brain to body mass ratio are the Shrews, whose brains consist 10% of their body weight. Nonetheless, the animal with the largest encephalization quotient (relative brain size) is still the human being.
LEGS AND FINGERNAILS
6 ft 4 in-tall Russian woman Svetlana Pankratova had the longest legs at 132 cm (52 in). Lee Redmond had the longest fingernails, with an overall length of 7.513 m.
HAIR
China’s Xie Qiuping possessed the longest hair on a human head, measuring 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in). Norway’s Hans Langseth had the longest beard ever recorded, which measured 5.65 m (18 ft 6 in) at the time of his death back in 1927. Radhakant Bajpai of India had the longest ear hair, at a length of 13.2 cm (5.19 in).
