As you will see, strength comes in all shapes and sizes, and there are many different ways it can be measured. From raw lifting power to great strength by body size, to crushing bites and grips, the natural world is full of impressive and powerful animals.
Read on to learn more about some truly herculean creatures.
Strongest animals in the world
African Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Not only the largest living land animal, African elephants are also thought to be the strongest animals on earth - in terms of the sheer amount they can lift. They are capable of lifting their own, very substantial body weight, all seven tonnes of it.
These capabilities are often demonstrated, with elephants in the wild seen to uproot great trees, tip over trucks full of tourists, and even toss large buffalos into the air!
A lot of their strength is found in their incredible trunks. These extraordinarily useful and highly sensitive appendages have up to 40,000 muscles - for reference a human only has 600 in their entire bodies. The trunk alone is capable of lifting up to 350 kg, that’s about the same mass as a manatee!
Dung beetle (Onthophagus Taurus) - strongest by body size
Elephants may lead the pack by sheer lifting power, but when it comes to strength by body size, dung beetles are perhaps even more impressive.
Known for their diet of animal poo, and their habit of rolling around large balls of the stuff, dung beetles are capable of pulling many, many, times more than their size and body weight.
One species, the horned dung beetle (Onthophagus Taurus), is just 10 millimetres long and can pull an incredible 1,141 times its body weight. This is widely cited as equivalent to a 70kg person lifting six full double-decker buses!
Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) - strongest primate
A recent poll suggested that a worrying 1 in 20 British men think that they could beat a gorilla in a fistfight.
These men could perhaps stand to be a little less confident, as gorillas (the strongest primate in the world) really are remarkably strong. Adult male gorillas are thought to be capable of lifting up to ten times their own body weight (though how this was tested is a mystery to me).
It is certainly believable however, given the sheer size and muscular bulk of a fully grown silverback. These hefty males can reach as much as 6ft 5 in height and 34 stone in weight. One of the first westerners to describe gorillas, English traveller Andrew Battel in 1625, gives an anecdotal description of quite how strong gorillas are: “Those Pongos are never taken alive, because they are so strong, that ten men cannot hold one of them.” So perhaps think again British men…
Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) - strongest bird
It is not only big muscular land mammals that can be very strong. Some birds of prey are able to lift incredible weights, and fly around with it too! The world’s strongest bird is thought to be the harpy eagle, a sizable eagle native to Central and South America.
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They have been recorded carrying prey weighing as much as half their own body weight - this allows them to snatch tree-dwelling animals straight from their branches and make away with them. This includes monkeys and sloths. Harpy eagles have even been documented flying off with domestic livestock including small pigs and even goats. This is rare however.
Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) - strongest bite
Lifting is not the only way to be a powerful predator, however. It can also be useful to have a mighty bite. The animal with the strongest bite force is the saltwater crocodile, an impressively deadly animal that also holds the record of the largest living reptile.
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With a huge range that stretches from northern Australia to eastern India and South-east Asia, these crocs can be found living in mangrove swamps, river deltas and freshwater rivers. A 2012 study found to have the highest bite force quotient ever recorded for an animal in a laboratory setting. This allows them to capture (and quickly dispatch) large prey, including wild boar, water buffalos, and even humans…
King snake (Lampropeltis genus) - strongest constriction pressure
But how do you subdue your prey if you are a reptile without such a powerful jaw? For some snake species the answer is squeeze them to death.
Contrary to common misconceptions, constriction does not break the bones of the prey, or smother it, it instead kills it by halting blood flow and preventing oxygen from reaching vital organs. The snake able to exert the strongest constriction pressure relative to body size is thought to be the King snake.
Although much smaller than many constrictor species such as pythons and rat snakes, they are able to apply around twice as much force relative to their size - about 180 mm Hg of pressure. This makes them formidable predators - primarily to other snakes, and even ones larger than themselves!
Coconut crab (Birgus latro) - strongest grip
Have you ever thought to fear a crab? If not, this one might change your mind. This absolute giant of a crustacean can reach a colossal 3.7 metres from claw to claw and feeds on other crabs, rats, and even large seabirds.
The strength of their mighty claws is however perhaps best demonstrated by their ability to crack open coconuts - hence the name. A 2016 study that measured the pinching force of their chelae (pincers) found that the strength of their claws can be nearly 90 times stronger than their weight, and they have the potential to exert a force of up to 3300 Newtons. This is similar to the force of a lion’s bite!
However believe it or not this is not the largest crab in the world...
Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) - owner of the most powerful muscle
Although they do not use their powers for predation, as the largest animals in the world blue whales can surely be ranked amongst the strongest. By virtue of their massive size and powerful swimming and diving abilities, they are though to be the owners of the animal kingdom’s most powerful muscle - the peduncle, which runs from the dorsal fin to the fluke. This muscle is used to propel the world’s largest animal on earth forward, and as much as 1000 feet below the surface.
Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) - strongest land carnivore
With a huge body size, a bite force strong enough to crush bones, powerful swimming muscles, and a formidable lifting power, polar bears surely deserve a spot on our list. The largest of all bears, reaching up to 8 ft 6 in length and more than half a tonne in weight, they are also thought to be the strongest land carnivores. You have only got to see a polar bear dragging their large prey across the ice to believe this.
Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) - strongest amphibian
Okay now this last one may not rival a polar bear, or even a coconut crab, but its definitely strong for an amphibian! The aptly named Chinese Giant salamander is the largest of all amphibians, reaching lengths of more than 1.8m.
Due to a specialised skill architecture they have a much stronger bite force than other salamanders, making them capable of subduing relatively large prey such as crabs and water shrews. It may however be rivaled in strength by another metric by another salamander species, the giant palm salamander.
This species holds the world record for the most watts of power generated per kilogram of muscle amongst all vertebrates. The muscle in question is its explosive tongue, which it can shoot out with more instantaneous power than any other known in the animal kingdom.
