It’s hard to imagine we could miss creatures the size of elephants roaming the planet, but are there any giant animals humans haven’t discovered?
In 2020, researchers saw for the first time what may be the longest animal ever. The creature, spotted in a deep-sea canyon off Australia, was a roughly 150-foot-long (45 meters) siphonophore. Each member of this group of species is made up of lots of smaller animals called zooids, which connect to form a long, string-like colony similar to a coral but that swims freely in the ocean. Given it took so long for humans to set eyes on this ginormous siphonophore, it raises the question, are there more giant animals humans haven’t discovered yet? The answer is almost certainly yes. Scientists are still learning about life on Earth and the siphonophore is one of several giants that humans have found in recent decades. Siphonophores live between about 2,300 and 3,280 feet (700 to 1,000 m) below the surface, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. But scientists don’t always have to go to such depths to find new colossal creatures. In 2011, a previously unknown whale species washed up on a New Zealand beach. Scientists identified the giant in 2021 as a new member of the beaked whale family — a relatively unknown group of deep-diving whales that are rarely seen alive, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, an international charity that works to protect whales and dolphins. Related: What’s the biggest animal in the world? While researchers are still only beginning to unlock the secrets of the deep ocean, they’re a lot more familiar with large animals living on land. African bush elephants cut unmissable silhouettes on the savanna. Standing up to 13 feet (4 m) high and weighing up to 11 tons (10 metric tons), they are the largest living land animals on Earth, according to The Nature Conservancy. It’s hard to imagine we could miss a massive, elephant-size creature roaming our planet. Perhaps this is why most research into large land animals tends to lead to reclassifications rather than brand-new discoveries. For example, in 2017, researchers determined that an isolated group of orangutans on the Indonesian island Sumatra was a distinct species from other orangutans and named them Tapanuli orangutans ( Pongo tapanuliensis), Live Science previously reported.
