it’s an animal match-up a series of 15
battles to see who’s the best and best
find out who takes all on animal
showdown
[Applause]
it’s earth’s largest living land mammal
up against the super small insect
looks like there’s a clear champion
right
don’t count these many but mighty
insects out just yet
so who’s the strongest
a heavyweight that packs a powerful
punch
letting its size speak for itself
weighing as much as seven tons standing
as tall as 13 feet
and able to look more than 500 pounds
the elephants
or
are lightweight
a tiny but tough contender who’s strong
in all sorts of weird ways weighing less
than one thousandth of an ounce and able
to lift many times their own weight the
weaver ants
first up is our heavyweight the elephant
a gentle giant of the wild
with a strong trunk and legs
people have used these massive creatures
for thousands of years to push pull pick
up and carry heavy things
there are two species of elephants
african and asian
both are huge
african elephants only slightly outweigh
asian ones
and it’s not just size and weight that
make an elephant so strong
its structure plays a big part
to hold up all its body weight
elephants have extra thick bones that
don’t crack under pressure
its beefy bones are strong enough to
withstand all that weight
pushing the force downward into its
heels
where big fatty pads of tissue
help balance the weight around their
feet and absorb vibrations from their
body movements
and its trunk is strong too
made up of 15 000 muscles and not a
single bone
this appendage is powerful yet flexible
able to pick up a tree and using its
finger-like structures at the end of the
trunk
pick up an item as small as a peanut
if we’re judging just on the ability to
lift
it seems like there’s no contest right
the african elephant is the winner
trunks down
what about heavy lifting with your mouth
time to meet our challenger the
lightweight weaver ants weigh less than
one thousandth of an ounce
this tiny insect is super strong in all
kinds of ways
there are about 12 000 species of ants
living worldwide
most famous for their snapping jaws and
ability to lift several times their own
weight weaver ants mighty mouths are put
to the test
the strong muscles in the ants head and
jawlike mouth parts called mandibles
can lift humongous loads
and like weight lifters
they control and balance their weight
they also have tiny moist pads to help
them grip on slippery surfaces
even more impressive is that weaver ants
hardly weigh anything these light
weights are tiny and don’t have bones
so their small size works to their
advantage
[Music]
unlike elephants ants use much less
muscle power to support their own weight
leaving more power for lifting objects
the elephant may be one of the brawniest
beasts in the animal kingdom and can
lift hundreds of thousands times more
than an ant
but an ants can hoist two hundredths of
an ounce of bug larva the equivalent of
a vitamin pill this may seem like
nothing but that’s 100 times its own
weight
hands down it’s a knockout win for the
weaver ants
the super small lightweight beats the
super sized heavyweights and advances to
the next round
find out who’s the toughest on our next
matchup between a water bear and a giant
tube worm
on animal showdown
[Music]
