The blue whale is the largest predator by definition, but not typically thought of as one. The sperm whale, Aramberri Monster, Spinosaurus, and Megalodon are also contenders for the title. Spinosaurus was the largest predator of the Mesozoic, while Megalodon is often considered the most ferocious predator of all time.
Which is the largest predator that ever lived depends on what a person considers a predator. There are various definitions of predation, but it’s safe to say that anything that consumes other animals for food is a predator. By this broad definition, the largest ever to live is the blue whale, which consumes several tons of plankton every day. Plankton include both algae and organisms such as krill.
The blue whale weighs up to 200 short tons (180 tons), and individuals up to 98 feet (29.9 m) long have been found. It is thought to be not only the largest predator to ever exist, but the largest animal overall. However, a whale filtering krill with its baleen is generally not what people think of when they hear the word “predator.” The sperm whale may approach, being the largest toothed animal. Measuring up to 67 feet (20.5 m) long, the sperm whale eats fish and several types of squid.
There are also at least three other very large predators that have a chance to vie for the title if whales are not included: an unidentified pliosaur called the Aramberri Monster, which was about 49 feet (15 m) long (contrary to previous exaggerated estimates ); Spinosaurus, the largest known predatory dinosaur, 59 feet (18 m) long; and the giant shark Megalodon, at 60 feet (18.2 m). Most terrifying are the latter two, which had tremendous bulk and would have needed to eat many other animals to sustain themselves.
Spinosaurus was a huge theropod dinosaur with a large tailed sail and an elongated crocodile skull. It was the largest predator of the Mesozoic, weighing between 7.7 and 9.9 short tons (7 to 9 metric tons), and lived during the Cretaceous Period, 100 to 93 million years ago. Some skeletal fragments have been found in Egypt and Morocco. It ate mostly fish, although it would have consumed small herbivores and scavenged for carrion.
Many people consider Megalodon to be the most ferocious predator of all time. This was such a large shark that the height of its tail fin is approximately equal to the length of a great white shark. Its teeth, which still occasionally brush on the banks, are larger than a man’s fist. Megalodon lived between 18 and 1.5 million years ago, quite recent in evolutionary terms, which has prompted some cryptozoologists to speculate that it may still be alive, although no evidence has been found to that effect.
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