Animal Facts About World Records

The oldest known individual animal was 'Ming' the ocean quahog clam, who lived for 507 years before being discovered off the coast of Iceland in 2006.

The costliest cat ever is named Little Nicky, who cost his owner $50,000. He is a clone of an older cat.

The world's oldest crow was 59 years old. Its name was Tataji.

The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!

The most expensive cow in the world was sold $1.3 million.

The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

Lurch, a Watusi bull, had the largest horns in the world.

The most powerful electric eel is found in the rivers of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and Peru, and produces a shock of 400-650 volts.

The Giant South African Earthworm can grow up to 22 feet long and 1 inch in thick.

Titanoboa was the biggest snake known to science, measuring in at 13-15 meters in length and weighing about 2,500 lbs.

Greyhounds have the best eyesight of any breed of dog.

A bluefin tuna can swim at speeds up to 40 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest fish in the ocean!

One of the largest manta rays ever caught was by Capt. A.L. Kahn in 1933 off Brielle. It weighed over 5,000 pounds and was over 20 feet wide.

Blue whale hearts weigh about 400 pounds and are roughly the size of a small car. Their aorta is so large that a small human could crawl through it.

A koi fish named Hanako lived to be 226 years old, making her the oldest koi ever documented. Her age was scientifically verified in 1966 by examining growth rings on her scales, and she died in Japan on July 7, 1977.

The Hercules beetle can lift objects up to 100 times its own body weight, making it one of the proportionally strongest animals in the world.

The most expensive dog in the world is the Tibetan Mastiff; worth $1.5 million.

Old Billy was a barge horse in 18th-century England who hauled canal boats for a living. He was born in 1760 and died in 1822 — at 62 years old. The average horse lives 25 to 30. His taxidermied head is still on display at the Manchester Museum.

Ronin is an African giant pouched rat, roughly the size of a small cat. Belgian charity APOPO trained him to sniff out landmines in Cambodia. From 2021 to 2025, he found 109 landmines and 15 other unexploded devices there. That broke the Guinness World Record set by his predecessor Magawa. A rat clears a tennis-court area in 30 minutes. A human deminer takes up to four days.

A lost sheep named Chris wandered the Australian bush near Canberra for more than five years without being shorn. When RSPCA workers found him in 2015, his fleece had grown to more than 40 kilograms - enough wool for 30 sweaters. Champion shearer Ian Elkins needed 42 minutes to remove it. Chris survived, broke a Guinness World Record, and lived four more years.