Every dog group and breed competing at the 2022 National Dog Show

black dragon lizard :: Article Creator

Draco Lizard

For the tiny Draco lizard, moving among the trees in the jungles of Southeast Asia is an essential task—for escaping danger, attracting mates, and finding meals.

Scampering across the forest floor, where predators lurk, can be perilous. So over thousands of years, the Draco lizard has taken the ground out of the equation by adapting the capacity for flight.

These so-called flying dragons have a set of elongated ribs, which they can extend and retract. Between these ribs are folds of skin that rest flat against the body when not in use, but act as wings when unfurled, allowing the Draco to catch the wind and glide. The lizards use their long, slender tails to steer themselves, and each sortie can carry

Frilled Lizard

Undoubtedly, one of the quirkiest sights in nature is the gangly retreat of an Australian frilled lizard.

When this unique creature feels threatened, it rises on its hind legs, opens its yellow-colored mouth, unfurls the colorful, pleated skin flap that encircles its head, and hisses. If an attacker is unintimidated by these antics, the lizard simply turns tail, mouth and frill open, and bolts, legs splaying left and right. It continues its deliberate run without stopping or looking back until it reaches the safety of a tree.

Frilled lizards, or "frillnecks," are members of the dragon family that live in the tropical and warm temperate forests and savanna woodlands of northern Australia. They spend most of their lives in the trees,

Meet The World's Biggest Spider—plus 16 More Of The Largest Species In The Animal Kingdom

By Sophia Crisafulli of Stacker

Slide 1 of 18: Humans may be the ones who cracked the code on cell phones, written language, and sliced bread, but the animal kingdom brings a lot to the table in terms of sheer size and strength. Yes, it was a human being who wrote "Romeo and Juliet," as was the inventor of the vacuum cleaner, but these accomplishments don't mean much to a 12-foot-wide crab or a 300-pound bird. As humans, we can only bow our heads in respect to these massive kings and queens of the animal world. The animals included on this list all share one trait: They are larger than any other animal of their kind, which may have a little something to do with an evolutionary trend. In recent years, new research has emerged in support of Cope's rule, which posits that over generations, animals will evolve to become larger. This Stanford study found that while it's not necessarily the case that all animals have become bigger over time, those that were already on the larger side did evolve and branch off to become more diverse—which can ultimately prove beneficial in terms of survival. That being said, there are certainly some ancient creatures whose unfathomable size would have made them an unwelcome guest in the modern world. Take the extinct Titanoboa, for instance: a 3,000-pound, 48-foot-long snake whose remains were discovered in Colombia. Stacker has done extensive research to create this unique list, which features the largest animals of their kind for certain categories of the animal kingdom. These categories, including mammal, bird, fish, and beyond, offer an overall look at the living beings that tower over others of their kind. Read on to learn more about the biggest animals in the world. You may also like: Deadliest animals in the world

Humans may be the ones who cracked the code on cell phones, written language, and sliced bread, but the animal kingdom brings a lot to the table in terms of sheer size and strength. Yes, it was a human being who wrote "Romeo and Juliet," as was the inventor of the vacuum cleaner, but these accomplishments don't mean much to a 12-foot-wide crab or a 300-pound bird. As humans, we can only bow our heads in respect to these massive kings and queens of the animal world.

The animals included on this list all share one trait: They are larger than any other animal of their kind, which may have a little something to do with an evolutionary trend. In recent years, new research has emerged in support of Cope's rule, which posits that over generations, animals will evolve to become larger. This Stanford study found that while it's not necessarily the case that all animals have become bigger over time, those that were already on the larger side did evolve and branch off to become more diverse—which can ultimately prove beneficial in terms of survival.

That being said, there are certainly some ancient creatures whose unfathomable size would have made them an unwelcome guest in the modern world. Take the extinct Titanoboa, for instance: a 3,000-pound, 48-foot-long snake whose remains were discovered in Colombia.

Stacker has done extensive research to create this unique list, which features the largest animals of their kind for certain categories of the animal kingdom. These categories, including mammal, bird, fish, and beyond, offer an overall look at the living beings that tower over others of their kind.

Read on to learn more about the biggest animals in the world.

You may also like: Deadliest animals in the world

Fish and Amphibians