Largest body part

The largest body part is either the largest given body part across all animals or the largest example of a body part within a species. The largest animals on the planet are not the only ones to have large body parts, with some smaller animals actually having one particularly enlarged area of the body. The largest organ of a mammal is its skin. [ [http://www.colorado.edu/epob/epob3770/CHAPTER1.htm University of Colorado at Boulder: CHAPTER 1: MAMMALIAN CHARACTERISTICS: INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM] : "The skin is an individual mammal's largest organ."]

Across all living animals

Blue whale

Unsurprisingly, as the largest animal alive, the Blue Whale has the largest instance of several body parts.
* Its tongue weighs around 2.7 tonnes (3 short tons)cite book|title=The Scientific Monthly|publisher=American Association forthe Advancement of Science|year=1915|pages=21]
* Its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90 tonnes (100 short tons) of food and water. [cite web|url=http://whale.wheelock.edu/bwcontaminants/welcome.html|title=Contaminant analysis of organochlorines in blubber biopsies from Blue Whales in the St Lawrence|publisher=Trent University|author=Jason de Koning and Geoff Wild|year=1997|accessdaymonth=29 June|accessyear=2007]
*Its heart typically weighs 600 kg (1,320 lb) and can reach 900 kg in exceptional cases [Seaworld. " [http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/cetacea/blue-whale.htm Animal Bytes - Blue Whale] ". Accessed 9 August 2006.]
*Its aorta is about 23 cm (9 in) in diameter. [cite web|url=http://www2.ucsc.edu/seymourcenter/PDF/2.%20Ms.%20B%20measurements.pdf|title=Ms. Blue's Measurements|author=Caspar, Dave|date=2001 April|accessdate=2006-09-01|publisher=Seymour Center, University of California, Santa Cruz.|format=PDF]
*Its penis is about 2.4 m (8 feet) in length. [cite web|url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Largest-Penis-in-the-World-43756.shtml|title=The Largest Penis in the World - Both for humans and animals, size does matter!|author=Anitei, Stefan |date=2007 January|accessdate=2008-02-14]

Other animals

*The Atlantic Giant Squid has the largest recorded eyes of any animal with an approximate diameter of 50 centimetres (20 inches), [Guinness World Records. " [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=51328 Largest Eye] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.] although those of the Colossal Squid are thought to reach an even greater size.
*The giraffe has the longest neck as well as the longest tail of any land mammal. [San Diego Zoo. " [http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-giraffe.html Mammals: Giraffe] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.]
*The Wandering Albatross has the largest wingspan at 3.63 metres (11 feet 11 inches). [Guinness World Records. " [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=50284 Largest Wingspan Of Any Living Bird] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.]
*The longest horns ever recorded belonged to a Wild Asian Water buffalo and measured 4.24 metres (13 feet 11 inches) from tip to tip. [Guinness World Records. " [http://web.archive.org/web/20051123012556/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=51205 Longest Horns] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.] The Greater Kudu has the longest horns on average. Fact|date=February 2007
*The largest and heaviest brain belongs to the Sperm Whale, weighing around 9 kilograms. [MarineBio.org. " [http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=190 Physeter catodon, Sperm Whale] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.]
* The Arctic Lion's mane jellyfish is the longest animal; the biggest had a bell (body), with a diameter of 7 feet 6 inches and the tentacles reached 120 feet. It was found washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870. [ [http://www.extremescience.com/GiantJellyfish.htm Giant Jellyfish: Arctic Lion's Mane (Cyanea capillata) ] ] Bootlace worms can reach great lengths. A specimen was measured at 55m (180 feet) but this may be unreliable as the body is somewhat elastic.

In proportion to body size

*The Tube-lipped Nectar Bat has the longest tongue of any mammal in relation to its body size. Its 3.4 inch tongue is 1.5 times longer than its body, and must be kept inside its rib cage. [ [http://uk.news.yahoo.com/06122006/80-132/animal-stows-its-tongue-its-rib-cage.html The animal that stows its tongue in its rib cage] URL accessed January 17, 2007.]
*The barnacle is the creature with the largest penis as a proportion of its overall body size. [Museum Victoria. " [http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/barnbiol.html Biology of Barnacles] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.]

*Among vertebrates, the Argentine Blue-bill duck has the longest penis in relative to its body size. [ [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1023_corkscrewduck.html Evolutionary Oddities: Duck Sex Organ, Lizard Tongue ] ]
*The vampire squid has the largest eyes of any animal relative to its size. [Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service, University of the Virgin Islands. " [http://is.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/vsfh.html The Vampire Squid] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.]
*Humans have the largest brains in relation to body size. [ [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6090 Sneakiest primates have biggest brains - 30 June 2004 - New Scientist ] ]

Humans

*The longest bone in the human body is the femur. [ [http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1985/7/85.07.06.x.html Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Knee Joint] URL accessed 17 January 2007.]
*The largest artery is the aorta [ [http://www.guidant.com/condition/heart/vessel_intro.shtml Intro to Blood Vessels] URL accessed January 17, 2007] and the largest vein is the inferior vena cava. [ [http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jul2000/963290200.An.r.html Re: What is the largest vein?] URL accessed 17 January 2007.]
*The largest internal organ is the liver. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/factfiles/liver/liver.shtml Organs - Liver] URL accessed 17 January 17, 2007.] It is also the heaviest organ, with an average of 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds). [ [http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/organ/ Your Amazing Body] URL accessed 17 January 17 2007.]
*The largest external organ, which is also the largest organ in general, is the skin.
*The longest muscle is the sartorius muscle in the thigh. [ [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17105039 Muscle fiber and motor unit behavior in the longest human skeletal muscle] URL accessed 17 January 17 2007.]
*The longest single nerve is the sciatic nerve in the thigh, counting its branches and axons.

Records

*The longest human tongue ever recorded was that of Stephen Taylor and measures 9.5 centimetres (3.74 inches). [Guinness World Records. " [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/extreme_bodies/longest_tongue.aspx Longest tongue] ". Accessed 27 August 2008.] The longest tongue for a female is that of Annika Irmler at 7 centimetres (2.76 inches). [Newsround. 9 November 2001 " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_1646000/1646912.stm 'I've got the world's longest tongue'] ". Accessed 7 August 2006.]
*The woman with the longest legs is Svetlana Pankratova. At a height of 6' 4", her legs measure 52 inches. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dJCfzyxTEY&fmt=18 "Smallest Man Meets Woman with Longest Legs"] AP. September 16, 2008.]
*The woman with the longest fingernails is Lee Redmond. The total length of her fingernails is 7.513 meters. [Guinness World Records. " [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/body_parts/longest_fingernails_-_female.aspx Longest Fingernails - Female] ". Accessed 27 August 2008.]
*The longest head of hair belonged to Xie Qiuping of China and measured 5.627 metres (18 feet 5.54 inches) on 8 May 2004. [Guinness World Records. " [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/extreme_bodies/longest_hair.aspx Longest hair] ". Accessed 27 August 2008.]
*The longest beard ever measured belonged to Hans Langseth of Norway; at his death in 1927 it was 5.33 metres (17 feet 6 inches) long. [ [http://www.ukhairdressers.com/records.asp Hair records - Longest male beard] - Accessed 27 August 2008]
*The longest ear hair belongs to Radhakant Bajpai of Naya Ganj, Uttar Pradesh, India, measuring 13.2 centimetres (5.19 inches). [Guinness World Records. " [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/extreme_bodies/longest_ear_hair.aspx Longest Ear Hair] ". Accessed 27 August 2008.]

ee also

*Largest organism
*Giant animal

References