The largest body part is either the largest given body part across all living and extinct organisms or the largest example of a body part within an existing 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.
A model of the skeleton of a blue whale, the largest animal on earth
Blue whale
Blue whale penis
As the largest animal that has existed, the blue whale has the largest instance of several body parts.
Its tongue weighs around 2.7 tonnes (3.0 short tons; 2,700kg).[1]
Its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90 tonnes (99 short tons; 90,000kg) of food and water.[2]
Its heart typically weighs 600kg (1,300lb; 0.66 short tons)[1] and can reach 900kg (2,000lb; 0.99 short tons) in exceptional cases[3]
Its aorta is about 23 centimetres (9.1in) in diameter.[4]
The blue whale's penis typically measures 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) to 3 metres (9.8 ft) and a diameter of 30 centimetres (12 in) to 36 centimetres (14 in).[5]
Other animals
Giraffes are instantly recognisable for their long necks.
The giant and colossal squids have the largest recorded eyes of any living animal, with a maximum diameter of at least 27cm (11in).[6] Only the extinct ichthyosaurs are known to have had larger eyes.[6]
The longest horns ever recorded belonged to a wild water buffalo and measured 4.24 metres (13feet 11inches) from tip to tip.[11]
The largest and heaviest brain belongs to the sperm whale, weighing around 9 kilograms.[12]
The Arctic lion's mane jellyfish may be the longest animal; the biggest had a bell (body) with a diameter of 2.28 meters (7feet 6inches) and the tentacles reached 36.6m (120ft). It was found washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870.[13]
Bootlace worms can reach great lengths. A specimen was measured at 55m (180ft) but this may be unreliable as the body is somewhat elastic.[14]
In proportion to body size
The Morgan's sphinx hawk moth has the longest proboscis in relation to its body size. Its 25–30cm proboscis is over 3 times longer than its body. It is also known as Darwin's moth because Charles Darwin predicted its existence some 40 years before it was discovered from experiments he did on an orchid with a "foot long" nectary.[15]
The tube-lipped nectar bat has the longest tongue of any mammal in relation to its body size. Its 85mm (3.3in) tongue is 1.5 times longer than its body, and must be kept inside its rib cage.[16]
The barnacle is the creature with the largest penis as a proportion of its body size.[17]
Among vertebrates, the Argentine blue-bill duck has the longest penis in relation to its body size.[18]
The vampire squid has the largest eyes of any animal relative to its size.[19]
The kiwi lays the largest egg of any bird relative to its size– up to a quarter of the mass of the female.
Viperfish have the largest teeth of any fish relative to its size.
The longest single nerve is the sciatic nerve in the thigh, counting its branches and axons.
Individual human records
The person with the longest tongue is Nick Stoeberl of Salinas, California, United States, whose tongue measures 10.1 centimetres (3.98in).[29]
The woman with the longest legs is Maci Currin. At a height of 208.28cm (6.83ft), her legs measure 134.78 centimetres (53in).[30]
The woman with the longest fingernails is Lee Redmond. The total length of her fingernails is 7.513 meters.[31] The person with the longest fingernails on one hand is Shridhar Chillal,[32] the woman with the longest fingernails on one hand is Ayanna Williams.[33]
Caspar, Dave (April 2001). "Ms. Blue's Measurements"(PDF). Seymour Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2006-09-18. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
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