Giant Animal (other)
Giant animal may refer to: *Megafauna, the largest animal species *Megafauna (mythology), large animals in mythology *Gigantism in animals See also *Largest organisms *Largest prehistoric organisms The largest prehistoric animals include both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Many of them are described below, along with their typical range of size (for the general dates of extinction, see the link to each). Many species mentioned might ...

Megafauna
In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower end being centered on humans, with other thresholds being more relative to the sizes of animals in an ecosystem, the spectrum of lower-end thresholds ranging from to . Large body size is generally associated with other traits, such as having a slow rate of reproduction and, in large herbivores, reduced or negligible adult mortality from being killed by predators. Megafauna species have considerable effects on their local environment, including the suppression of the growth of woody vegetation and a consequent reduction in wildfire frequency. Megafauna also play a role in regulating and stabilizing the abundance of smaller animals. During the Pleistocene, megafauna were diverse across the globe, with most continental ecosystems exhibiting s ...
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Megafauna (mythology)
A giant animal in mythology is unusually large, either for their species or in relation to humans. The term ''giant'' carries some ambiguity; however, in mythology, definitions of what constitutes 'large' vary, with definitions ranging from upwards. At the upper end of this scale, they may be further subdivided into small (), medium () and large (over ). Megafauna often form one of the mythemes of a story. The narrative may revolve around a real animal or a primordialism, primordial archetype of a gigantic Animal, creature, such as a dragon, sea monsters, or the Jörmungandr, Midgard snake. Examples of megafauna Numerous myths and folklore exist depicting giant animals, including Australian, Greek, Native American, among others. Africa megafauna mythology *Dingonek *Nandi bear *Mokele-mbembe *Grootslang *Salawa Oceania megafauna mythology *Abaia *Gazeka *Taniwha *Tiddalik *Rainbow Serpent Central and South America megafauna mythology *Headless Mule *Mapinguari *Peuc ...
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Gigantism
Gigantism (, ''gígas'', "wiktionary:giant, giant", plural γίγαντες, ''gígantes''), also known as giantism, is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average height, average. In humans, this condition is caused by over-production of growth hormone in childhood. It is a rare disorder resulting from increased levels of growth hormone before the fusion of the Epiphyseal plate, growth plate which usually occurs at some point soon after puberty. This increase is most often due to abnormal tumor growths on the pituitary gland. Gigantism should not be confused with acromegaly, the adult form of the disorder, characterized by Somatic (biology), somatic enlargement specifically in the extremities and face. Cause Gigantism is characterized by an excess of growth hormone (GH). The excess of growth hormone that brings about gigantism is virtually always caused by pituitary growths (adenomas). These adenomas are on the Anterior pituitary, anteri ...
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Largest Organisms
This article lists the largest organisms for various types of life and mostly considers extant species, which found on Earth can be determined according to various aspects of an organism's size, such as: mass, volume, area, length, height, or even genome size. Some organisms group together to form a superorganism (such as ants or bees), but such are not classed as single large organisms. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest structure composed of living entities, stretching but contains many organisms of many types of species. When considering singular entities, the largest organisms are clonal colonies which can spread over large areas. Pando, a clonal colony of the quaking aspen tree, is widely considered to be the largest such organism by mass. Even if such colonies are excluded, trees retain their dominance of this listing, with the giant sequoia being the most massive tree. In 2006, a huge clonal colony of the seagrass '' Posidonia oceanica'' was discovered south ...
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