giant

There’s a lot to worry about in the world, but if you live Sri Lanka, meet your worst nightmare. The Wildlife Department found a huge, HUGE crocodile in Matara, Sri Lanka, and it could probably swallow you whole. Lucky for you, it would probably chew quite a bit, making this thing all the more scary.

Weighing close to a ton, this croc was found stuck in a canal off the Nilawala River, all 17 feet of it. That’s right, 17 feet. How tall are you? 5’5? 6’5? Even if you were Shaq reading this — which if Shaq is reading this: Hello, Shaq — you’d still be about 10 feet smaller than this bad boy.

The Wildlife Department pulled the crocodile out and sent it on its way. So long, gigantic crocodile. May your next meal not be a person.

Pictures by Krishan Jayaruk

He is over 100 years old, weighs about 175 pounds, is nearly 35 inches long, five feet tall, and the ladies love him. His name is Diego. Diego the Chelonoidis hoodensis Galapagos giant tortoise.



According to Washington Tapia, a tortoise preservation specialist at Galapagos National Park, Diego "has fathered an estimated 800 offspring, almost single-handedly rebuilding the species' population--and saving it from extinction--on their native island, Espanola, the southernmost in the Galapagos Archipelago."

"Around 50 years ago, there were only two males and 12 females of Diego's species alive on Espanola, and they were too spread out to reproduce."

Six years ago, they did a genetic study and discovered that Diego was the father of nearly 40 percent of the offspring released into the wild on Espanola, thereby doing more parenting than any other turtle to repopulate the species.





"He's a very sexually active male reproducer. He's contributed enormously to repopulating the island," said Tapia.




"Rawr, damn straight," replied Diego.

This monster was spotted lazily strolling around at the Buffalo Creek Golf Course in Palmetto, Florida. A pro shop worker for the golf course, Wendy Schofield, told 3 News that he's been there for a while. She said, "He doesn't bother anybody and they don't bother him, he's like a mascot for the course, which is owned by Manatee County."

So it's fine that basically a dinosaur is roaming around the golf course. Let's just hope that someone doesn't get eaten trying to take a selfie with him now that his existence has gone viral. 

This is one of the largest new dinosaurs ever discovered. It's so new, it hasn't even been formally named by paleontologists.  It probably weighed about 70 tons.  Now a cast of the bones is on display at the American Museum of Natural History. 

Here's a video of how they put it all together: 

The Chinese salamander is a very rare nocturnal salamander that lives in lakes and streams in the mountains of China. This one is believed to be at least 200-years-old. It measures 4 feet 7 inches long and weighs 104 pounds. These animals are becoming increasingly endangered due to habitat loss. 

Maybe that's why this giant was found in a cave in Chongqing Municipality in China. He's since been transferred to a research facility. You can really tell how big he is here with a scientist for scale: