You probably already know how blue whales hold the record for having the biggest heart. Which makes sense considering that blue whales are the largest animal known ever to have existed.
How big some of you may wonder.. About 5 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 5 feet tall with a weight of about 400 pounds. For comparison, an elephant's heart is just about 30 pounds.
So yeah, quite big. Big enough for humans to fit in their aortas:
Anyways, today's post is for another cool record these big hearts hold. Turns out that blue whales also have the slowest known heart beat, at least when it comes to warm blooded animals.
On average their hearts beat four to eight beats per minute, which varies depending on whether the whale is diving or not. And this rate has been reported to go as low as just two beats per minute! 馃槻
And here's how it sounds like:
Sounds... Strong if you ask me!
Naturally, you may now wonder what's the record for fastest beating heart. That belongs to the Etruscan shrew,a small mammal, with up to 1,500 times per minute. That's up to 25 times per second!
Ok I think this is enough trivia for today. See you soon with more :D
