The largest animal ever to walk on Earth was likely the dinosaur
Argentinosaurus, a hulking 77-ton (70 metric tons) titanosaur that lived about 90 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous. For comparison, the heaviest animal on land today is the African elephant (
Loxodonta), which weighs less than 7 tons (6 metric tons). And both look positively dainty next to the blue whale (
Balaenoptera musculus), which, at an average of 165 tons (150 metric tons), may be the heaviest animal ever to have lived.
But could any animal ever top that? Is there a limit to how large an animal can get?