Largest mammals

The following is a list of largest mammals by family.

Tenrecs and allies (Afrosoricida)

*The largest of these insectivorous mammals is the giant otter shrew (''Potamogale velox''), native to Central Africa. This species can weigh up to and measure in total length.

Even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla)

*The largest species in terms of weight is the hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius''), native to the rivers of sub-Saharan Africa. They can attain a size of , long and tall. Prehistoric hippos such as '' H. gorgops'' and '' H. antiquus'' rivaled or exceeded the modern species as the largest members of the family and order to ever exist.
*The longest-bodied species, and tallest of all living land animals, is the giraffe (''Giraffa sp.''), measuring up to tall to the top of the head, and despite being relatively slender, reaching a top weight of .
*The largest extant representative of the bovids, a diverse and well-known family, is the Asian forest-dwelling gaur (''Bos gaurus''), in which bulls can weigh up to either or , in total length and stand at the shoulder. The wild yak (''B. mutus''), reaching in height, weighing . The living American bison (''B. bison'') of North America is long, the tail adding . Shoulder heights in the species can range from .Gennady G. Boeskorov, Olga R. Potapova, Albert V. Protopopov, Valery V. Plotnikov, Larry D. Agenbroad, Konstantin S. Kirikov, Innokenty S. Pavlov, Marina V. Shchelchkova, Innocenty N. Belolyubskii, Mikhail D. Tomshin, Rafal Kowalczyk, Sergey P. Davydov, Stanislav D. Kolesov, Alexey N. Tikhonov, Johannes van der Plicht, 2016, The Yukagir Bison: The exterior morphology of a complete frozen mummy of the extinct steppe bison, Bison priscus from the early Holocene of northern Yakutia, Russia, pp.7, Quaternary International, Vol.406 (2016 June 25), Part B, pp.94-110 Weights can range from . The European bison (''B. bonasus'') may be less heavy than the American species, but would exceed heights at withers with the tallest record of . When raised in captivity and farmed for meat, the bisons can grow unnaturally heavy and the largest semidomestic American bison weighed and the heaviest European bison weighed about .Semenov U.A. of WWF-Russia, 2014, "The Wisents of Karachay-Cherkessia", Proceedings of the Sochi National Park (8), pp.23-24, , KMK Scientific Press The heads and forequarters of American species are massive, and both sexes have short, curved horns that can grow up to long, which they use in fighting for status within the herd and for defense. Wild water buffaloes (''Bubalus arnee'') of Asia are larger and heavier than domestic buffaloes, and weigh from . Their head-to-body-length is with a tail long, and a shoulder height of . Both sexes carry horns that are heavy at the base and widely spreading up to The extinct giant bison (''Bison latifrons'') may be the largest bovid in the fossil record, with an estimated shoulder up to and a weight over . ''Pelorovis'' also reached 2,000 kg in weight. Domestic cattle (Bos ''taurus'') are usually smaller, although obese steers have been reported to weigh up to . The largest antelope is the giant eland (''Taurotragus derbianus'') from Africa They are typically between in head-and-body length and stand approximately at the shoulder and weigh .
*The largest species in the pig family is generally the giant forest hog (''Hylochoerus meinertzhageni''), a native of the African rainforests, at up to , in length and high at the shoulder. Although wild boars (''Sus scrofa'') have reportedly reached historically, especially the Manchurian subspecies (''Sus scrofa ussuricus'') and obese domestic pigs (''S. domesticus'') which have been weighed at . The largest wild suid to ever exist was ''Kubanochoerus gigas'', having measured up to and stood more than tall at the shoulder.
*The largest living cervid is the moose (''Alces alces''), particularly the Alaskan subspecies (''A. a. gigas''), verified at up to , a total length of and a shoulder height of .Wood, Gerald ''The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats'' (1983) The largest deer of all time was the broad-fronted moose (''Cervalces latifrons''). The extinct Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus'') and the stag-moose (''Cervalces scotti'') were of similar size to the Alaskan moose. However, the Irish elk could have antlers spanning up to across, about twice the maximum span for a moose's antlers.
*The largest members of the camel family are either the bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), which is still wild in the steppe of central Asia, or the similarly sized dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), which no longer exists as a purely wild species but is widespread in the Middle East as a domestic animal, with a large introduced feral population in Australia. Both camels can weigh up to , in total length, tall at the shoulder and a height of at the hump. Several giant camels are known from fossils, the previous record holders, ''Gigantocamelus'' and ''Titanotylopus'' from North America, both possibly reached and a shoulder height of over . ''Camelus moreli'', also known as the "Syrian camel", may have been even larger, at an estimated shoulder height of 3.6 or even 4 m (12–13 ft).

Carnivorans (Carnivora)

*The largest carnivoran as well as the largest pinniped is the southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina''), attaining sizes up to 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) in weight and 6.9 m (23 ft) in length.
*The largest living land carnivoran, on average, is the polar bear (''Ursus maritimus''). It can reach a shoulder height of over and total length of as much as . The heaviest wild polar bear weight recorded was . The Kodiak bear, a brown bear (''U. arctos'') subspecies, rivals the polar bear in size, but is slightly smaller. It has a similar body length with the largest confirmed wild specimen weighing . The largest bear, and possibly the largest known mammalian land carnivore of all time, was ''Arctotherium angustidens''. The largest specimen yet found is estimated to weigh up to and stood up to tall on the hind-limbs
*The largest living species of the family Felidae is the tiger (''Panthera tigris''), with reports of males up to in the wilderness and captivity, respectively. Captive ligers, hybrids between lions (''P. leo'') and tigers, can grow up to non-obese weights over .
* Among the largest members of the family Felidae were the extinct American lion, averaging , the sabertooth ''Smilodon populator'', of which the largest males might have exceeded , and sabertooths of genus ''Adeilosmilus'' (e.g., ''A. kabir'', with an estimated mass of .
*In the wilderness, the largest living member of Canidae is the gray wolf (''Canis lupus''). The largest specimens from the Mackenzie Valley wolf (''C. l. occidentalis'') or the Eurasian wolf (''C. l. lupus'') weigh up to and measure up to in total length and tall at the shoulder. Eurasian wolves from the Russian area have even been reported to weigh as much as , though these figures require verification. Domestic dogs however can occasionally grow heavier, up to .
*The largest known canid is an extinct member of subfamily Borophaginae, ''Epicyon haydeni''. The largest known specimen of this species weighed an estimated .
*The largest and most diverse family of carnivores, the mustelids, reaches their maximum size (by mass) in the sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') of the North Pacific coasts, at up to , and (by length) the giant otter (''Pteronura brasiliensis'') of the Amazonian rainforests, at up to in total. The largest mustelid to ever exist was likely the odd cat-like ''Ekorus'' from Africa, about the size of a modern leopard and filling a similar ecological niche before big cats came to the continent. Another contender for largest of this family is the wolverine-like ''Megalictis'', which according to older estimates could have reached the size of a modern black bear. Newer estimates, however, significantly downgrade its size, although, at a maximum weight more than twice that of a wolverine, it is larger than most (if not all) living mustelids.
*The largest species in the mongoose family is the African white-tailed mongoose (''Ichneumia albicauda''), at up to and long.
*The largest species in the viverrid family is the Asian binturong (''Arctictis binturong''), at up to and long, about half of which is tail.Kingdon, Jonathan ''Kingdon Guide to African Mammals'' (1993) The largest viverrid known to have existed is '' Viverra leakeyi'', which was around the size of a modern wolf or small leopard at .
*The largest modern species in the hyena family is the spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta'') of sub-Saharan Africa, at up to a maximum weight of . Spotted hyenas can range up to in total length and tall at the shoulder. The largest fossil hyena is the lion-sized ''Pachycrocuta'', estimated at .
*The largest living procyonid is the raccoon (''Procyon lotor'') of North America, having a body length of and a body weight of . The extinct ''Chapalmalania'' of South America was the largest known member of this family, about in body length.
*The largest skunk is generally considered the striped skunk, which can weigh up to and reaches lengths of up to . The American hog-nosed skunk (''Conepatus leuconotus'') is longer, reaching lengths of up to , but is usually less heavy, at up to .

Whales (Cetacea)

*The largest whale (and largest mammal, as well as the largest animal known ever to have existed) is the blue whale, a baleen whale (Mysticeti). The longest confirmed specimen was 33.58 m (110.17 ft) in length and the heaviest was 190 tonnes. Its closest competitors are also baleen whales, the fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), which can reach a size of in length and weight of 109 tonnes, and the bowhead (''Balaena mysticetus'') and North Pacific right whale (''Eubalaena japonica''), both measured up to and estimated at that length to weigh about 133 tonnes.Stewart, et al., ''National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World''. Knofp (2002),
*The largest toothed whale (Odontoceti) is the sperm whale (''Physeter macrocephalus''), bulls of which usually range up to long and a mass of 50 tonnes.
*The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is the largest species of the oceanic dolphin family. The largest orca ever recorded was a male off the coast of Japan, measuring long and weighed 10 tonnes.
*The largest porpoise is the Dall's porpoise (''Phocoenoides dalli''), at up to and in length.
*The largest beaked whale is the Baird's beaked whale (''Berardius bairdii'') at up to 14 tonnes and long.
*The largest of the beluga and narwhal is the beluga whale (''Delphinapterus leucas''). Adult male beluga whales can range from , while the females measure .
*The largest river dolphin is the Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis'') from Amazon basin , depending on subspecies. Females are typically larger than males. The largest female Amazon river dolphins can range up to
*Fragmentary fossils of extinct rorquals from the Pliocene

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