Best part of Harry Potter? The Acromantulas.
Best part of The Princess Bride? The Rodents of Unusual Size.
Best part of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? The fight between the giant ant and giant scorpion. (Because all suburban neighborhood backyards are infested with scorpions.)
Point being, there has always been something about gigantic versions of smaller animals that have fascinated us. Why else would they constantly pop up in fantasy, dating from as far back as ancient Greece, whose mythology hosted a large menagerie of freakishly huge beasts?
But what’s the real scoop?
This is a mighty big world we live in, with a very large and complex history, and evolution can do a lot of wacky things when you’re not paying attention. Did usually small animals like spiders ever come in XXL?
Well, actually, yes, they do. And normally large animals can also be dwarfed.
The most common phenomenon which causes these re-sizings is called “island gigantism,” or “island dwarfism,” in which fauna are, through evolution, changed to fit their environment, which can be necessary for adaptation and survival, a phenomenon which mostly occurs in isolated environments like islands.
Some examples of these large animals still exist today, such as the giant tortoise, and, of course, the Komodo dragon. The freakiest of the freaky, though, are the insects. If you’re squeamish like me, you might want to read a different article now. (Believe me, if I wasn’t being paid to write this there’s no WAY I would ever have done this image search. I’m going to have weird dreams tonight.)
Here is a picture of a weta, one of the heaviest insects in the world, which can weigh more than 70 grams.
And as if our soldiers didn’t have enough to worry about in Iraq, there is also a species of spider called the Giant Camel Spider, which can grow as large as ten inches (TEN INCHES!!!) long…and…has been known…sorry, I need to collect myself.
It’s been known to hide out in sleeping bags. Bring our troops home now!
But since soldiers are way tougher than I am, they thought it was so funny when they found a pair of giant camel spiders locked in mortal combat that they decided to pick them up and snap a picture. Again, you might not want to…oh, you’re going to look anyway, so here:
Okay, not exactly Shelob, but they hide out in sleeping bags!!!
And as for giant snakes, such as Nagini from Harry Potter? Its representation in the films are not that inaccurate. Anacondas, a species of boa constrictor, can grow as large as 32 feet, well over five times the height of an average human. For scale:
And that’s a little guy!
While there may never have been spiders the size of a house or rats the size of a man, animals can come in all sorts of freaky sizes thanks to that thing we call evolution. It’s how birds can grow to fantastic sizes and even human, yes, humans, can be shrunk to the size of hobbits, if their survival depends on it. Just remember, next time you travel to a desert island, look around you and keep a weapon handy. Who know what you’ll find?
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Eek! This whole article scares me. I despise creepy crawly things. The only reason I read the article was because of the Ray Harryhausen picture. I just finished watching the last two seasons of Lost. There is a scene with these Medusa spiders, which paralyze. They are not as big as the Giant Camel Spider (Ten Inches!), but nearly as creepy. I need to go check under my bed now.
I’m not that bothered by spiders but 10 inch spiders are just too much. That giant grasshopper was cool though.
the good news is that camel spiders aren’t *really* spiders, and their bites aren’t dangerous. they also charge soldiers to hide in their shade. look for the vids on youtube… brrr.
but in prehistoric times, 12-foot scorpian relatives roamed the earth.
but here’s a fun theory: giant insects & arachnids are coming back! here’s how:
1) arthropods are limited in size by today’s low oxygen levels.
2) fossil fuels are sequestered carbon.
3) solving greenhouse emissions/global warming will require the re-sequestration of carbon.
4) photosynthetic sequestration processes release oxygen.
so, if we manage to survive globabl warming… we’ll be eaten by giant tarantulas! sweet dreams
omg man the camel spider looks cool! man if i was to see one of those for real, i would run like hell! where bouts can i see these videos?
hmmm google!!..yea
Thanks for posting this, lifted my day.
These animals scare me & now i am nauseous…k bye!!!