2006-09-04 10:14:52 · 17 answers · asked by tom science 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
It would depend on the type of animal, but this sort of thing is very hard to quantify and often meaninless. For instance, the wolverine is considered to be one of the most powerful carnivores alive; yet if you could magically scale one up to the size of a Kodiak bear you would get an animal about as strong as a big bear.
Smaller animals (and bugs and other invertebrates) seem to be relatively super-strong because they are less affected by gravity, atmospheric pressure and momentum, among other things.
The bigger an animal is, the more energy it must expend to simply carry its own weight - a wolverine the size of a Kodiak bear would fall under the same rules that govern the shape and proportions of animals that size.
This is also why insects can never be the size they are in sci-fi movies - they would either collapse because their exoskeleton could not support them in earth's gravity and atmospheric pressure, or if the exoskeleton was thick enough they would be too heavy to move.
The best way to really make a comparison is to say that an animal is strong compared to other creatures its size - in that respect a wolverine would indeed be quite powerful compared to animals in its size range - bobcats, lynx, coyote, etc. Then there's other issues like body form and function - it's difficult to compare the strength of a python with that of a quadraped like a leopard.
2006-09-04 15:40:17 · answer #1 · answered by Schrecken 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Definitely NOT insects; that is a misconception. Insects appear to have disproportionate strength beause their surface area is large compared to their volume. Insect muscle moves very little volume compared to what human muscle has to move. An insect the size of a human would be as strong as-- are you ready- A human.
2006-09-04 12:50:13 · answer #2 · answered by bioguy 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The scarab or dung beetle, which can lift 850 times its own body weight (the equivalent of a human lifting eight double-decker buses at once).
2006-09-04 10:29:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anaconda 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Anaconda!
2006-09-04 10:20:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't it a Leopard or Tiger? Mountain Lion?
2006-09-04 10:20:06 · answer #5 · answered by reignydey 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting question
2016-08-08 14:16:01 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd have to go with either hippo or rhinoceros.
2006-09-04 10:26:33 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its uncertain there are actually several answers to this question...
2016-08-23 06:09:15 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mountain lion
2006-09-04 10:20:27 · answer #9 · answered by Riley W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the human, but not in physical strength
2006-09-04 10:20:11 · answer #10 · answered by Joe P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋