Victor Forge
From the mighty lion to the humble dung beetle, nature has gifted some creatures with unbelievable muscular power. The strength of an animal is often determined by its muscle structure and the way muscles are attached to the skeleton. For instance, a gorilla’s muscles are attached in a way that maximizes strength, allowing it to lift or pull weights that would be challenging for a human. So, which animals stand out for their muscular prowess?
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What You'll Learn
Strongest animal in the world: African Elephant
The African elephant is the strongest animal in the world. As the largest land animal on Earth, it possesses extraordinary power. Weighing up to 13,000 pounds (6,000 kilograms), an African elephant can lift its own body weight. This is more than any other land animal. Even female elephants, which are typically smaller, often weigh between 5,000 and 14,000 pounds (2,268 and 6,350 kilograms).
The strength of African elephants is largely attributed to their robust skeletal structure and massive musculature. Their muscle bundles are notably tighter than those of other animals, particularly in the legs, which bear immense weight. Complementing this strong skeletal framework are powerful muscles in their trunks, legs, and shoulders, which allow them to perform impressive tasks such as lifting heavy objects and uprooting trees.
An African elephant's trunk alone is composed of about 40,000 muscles and can carry weights of up to 770 pounds (350 kilograms). Their tusks can lift objects weighing up to 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms). In the Maasai Mara, Kenya, tourists have photographed a mother elephant lifting a female cape buffalo, weighing around 500 kilograms, several feet into the air. In another incident, a bull elephant lifted the front of a large tourist truck off the ground.
African elephants are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their larger ears that resemble the continent of Africa. They are also distinguished by having two finger-like features on the end of their trunks, whereas Asian elephants have only one. Both male and female African elephants have continuously growing tusks and teeth, which they use for digging for food and water and stripping bark from trees.
African elephants are keystone species, meaning they play a critical role in their ecosystem. They are also known as "ecosystem engineers" because they shape their habitat in many ways. They are highly intelligent and are one of the few animals that can recognize themselves in a mirror.
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Muscle structure and power: Water Buffalo
Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) are large bovids that originated in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They typically weigh between 300 and 550 kg (660-1,210 lb), but some individuals can weigh over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). They are known for their massive build and ability to adapt and thrive in varied aquatic and land habitats.
The muscle structure of water buffalo contributes significantly to their strength. They possess well-developed neck and shoulder muscles, which are crucial for supporting their large horns and head. Additionally, their muscular limbs enable them to swim for long distances and navigate challenging environments, such as wetlands and muddy terrains.
The strength of water buffalo is also evident in their ability to serve as working animals. They are often referred to as "the living tractor of the East" due to their effectiveness in tilling and cultivating small fields, particularly in rice production. Their large hooves and flexible foot joints make them ideal for working in the deep mud of paddy fields.
The muscle structure of water buffalo is distinct from other animals, as they exhibit unique muscle metabolic and functional characteristics. Research on the longissimus muscle of water buffalo revealed the absence of αW fibers, indicating potential differences in meat characteristics compared to other domestic beef breeds.
Water buffalo are renowned for their gentle nature, often displaying calm interactions with humans despite their immense strength. Their resilience and adaptability have made them valuable assets for humans in various agricultural and economic contexts.
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Muscle attachments: Gorillas
Gorillas are known for their impressive strength, with muscle attachments that allow them to lift or pull weights that would be challenging for a human. The muscle attachments in a gorilla's body are designed to maximise strength. For example, the cranially "swept" acromion of non-human apes, including gorillas, provides improved leverage for the deltoid muscle. This is in contrast to humans, where the deltoid and trapezius muscles are less mechanically advantageous.
The musculoskeletal geometry of gorillas, including the arrangement of muscle-tendon units (MTUs) and muscle-tendon subunits (MTSUs), plays a crucial role in their strength. MTUs represent either a whole muscle or distinct portions of a muscle, while MTSUs are smaller divisions within MTUs. The gorilla's MTUs and MTSUs are modelled using attachment points, and these attachment points are determined by combining observations from dissections and 3D imaging with CT scan data.
In the gorilla shoulder, the supra- and infraspinatus muscles are represented as single units, with the origin positioned in the centre of their respective attachment sites. This intermediate origin location results in a moment arm that falls between the two human subunits, contributing to the overall strength of the gorilla's shoulder muscles.
The gluteus maximus, a hip muscle, also demonstrates strong attachments in gorillas. In particular, it has three origins and strong attachments to the pelvis at these sites. By manipulating a musculoskeletal model, researchers can study the muscle moment arms and moment capacities of the gluteus maximus and other muscles during various movements, such as hip rotation.
Additionally, the humeral adductor and retractor muscles, including the teres major, teres minor, subscapularis, and pectoralis major, play a role in the gorilla's arm-lowering performance. By adding these muscles to the musculoskeletal model, researchers can calculate muscle moment arms and moment-generating capacity during arm-lowering in different planes of elevation, further illustrating the role of muscle attachments in the gorilla's overall strength.
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Muscular birds: Harpy Eagle
The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large neotropical species of eagle and is considered among the largest birds of prey in the world. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, or New Guinea harpy eagle. The female harpy eagle is the strongest bird in the world, being able to lift up to 18 kg, or double its own weight. This strength allows it to hunt prey that would be unavailable to weaker birds, including sloths, monkeys, and other medium-sized arboreal mammals. The average weight of an adult female harpy eagle is 7.3 to 8.3 kg, with one captive female eagle, named Jezebel, weighing in at 12.3 kg.
The harpy eagle is the heaviest eagle in the world, with a wingspan of 176 to 224 cm. The eagle's strength is also evident in its ability to fly while carrying large prey, such as male howler or spider monkeys, or mature sloths weighing 6 to 9 kg. The eagle's rear talons are about 3-4 inches long, which is comparable in size to a grizzly bear's claws.
The harpy eagle typically inhabits tropical lowland rainforests in the upper canopy layer. Unfortunately, the destruction of its natural habitat has led to its disappearance from many parts of its former range, and it is now nearly extinct in much of Central America.
The female harpy eagle is larger and stronger than the male, which is unusual among birds, as typically the male is larger. The size difference between the sexes may be due to allowing them to hunt different prey without competing with each other. The smaller male harpy eagle hunts smaller and faster-moving prey, while the female is better equipped to prey upon larger and less agile animals.
The harpy eagle was named after the mythological beast harpy, which was said to have the lower body and talons of a raptor and the head of a woman. The eagle's feathers are mostly slate-black on the upperside and white on the underside, with a grey head and a black band across the upper breast.
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Muscle-to-weight ratio: Dung Beetles
Insects like ants and beetles are known for their impressive strength relative to their size. For instance, ants can lift objects that weigh as much as 50 times their own body weight. This strength is due to their lightweight exoskeletons instead of heavy internal skeletons.
Dung beetles, or Onthophagus taurus, are among the strongest of these insects. They can lift more than 1,000 times their body weight, making them the strongest animal in the world relative to their body weight. To put this into perspective, a human being would have to lift over 180,000 pounds to match the strength of the strongest dung beetle!
Dung beetles are tiny, growing to less than half an inch in length, and they occupy desert, forest, and grassland environments all over the world. They are known for burying large amounts of dung, their exclusive diet, in balls that weigh 250 times heavier than themselves. They also use these dung balls as mating chambers.
The muscle-to-weight ratio of dung beetles is truly remarkable. While the average human can lift about 1.5 times their body weight, the average dung beetle, weighing just 2 grams, can push a weight of up to 20kg. This strength is likely due to the beetle's lightweight exoskeleton and the mechanics of how its muscles attach to its skeleton.
In comparison to other strong animals, the dung beetle's strength is even more impressive. For example, the powerful lion is synonymous with strength and hunting ability, with male lions weighing between 150 and 250kg. However, even this mighty creature cannot match the muscle-to-weight ratio of the dung beetle.
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Frequently asked questions
There are a few contenders for the animal with the strongest muscles. The African Elephant is the strongest land animal, capable of carrying weights of up to 770 pounds with its trunk. The musculature of great whales is also impressive, with the muscles connecting the whale's fluke to its body being the most powerful set of muscles in nature. Finally, wild cats are considered the most muscular mammals, and the gorilla is stronger than a human.
The Musk Ox weighs up to 900 pounds and has thick muscles on its neck and shoulders. Its hooves are strong enough to break through solid ice, and it can pull heavy carts. The Cape Buffalo is another strong animal relative to its size, weighing up to 2,000 pounds.
The Nile Crocodile has the highest bite force in the animal kingdom. Among mammals, the jaguar has the highest bite force.
