Originally posted by leana marie
the, umm blue whale?
The blue whale is the largest animal ever, and so the proud owner of the largest muscular mass, but it is by far the strongest animal.
For the record, this is about relative strenght, not the total weight a creature can move, but the weight it can move compared to it's own.
Think smaller!
Originally posted by Storm
The rhinoceros beetle?Ceterum censeo OTF esse delendam.
Good guess! The rhinoceros beetle is by far the strongest animal around.
A little comparison, below some animals and the amount of times of their own weight they can lift:
Human: 1x (more if trained)
Wolverine: 4x
Gorilla: 7x
Umbrella ant: 50x
Dung-beetle: 200x
But all of that is peanuts compared to the rhinoceros beetle, who can lift an astonishing amount of 850 times his own weight!
This ability is used to dig around in forest grounds in seach of food and shelter, the 1.5 inch beetle is able to move wrist-thick branches and fist-size rocks.
Size might seem the key to strength, but in fact it only works counteractive. The larger the animal, the lesser his relative strength gets, due to gravity. An elephant for example can only carry 25% of his own weight, he needs most of his muscles just to move it's own mass around.