On many occasions aggressiveness is confused with the ability to be deadly or produce the greatest number of human victims. I do not believe that the latter is necessarily a quality that must combine aggressiveness with the ability to be lethal. There are many very shy and peaceful animals that are extraordinarily lethal. An example is the sea serpent, which will flee in the presence of beings that do not fit into its food alternative. Another example to the contrary is the stoat, a tiny being weighing just 300 g, capable of successfully confronting prey much larger than itself thanks to its unparalleled aggressiveness. However, a stoat does not cause human casu alties, which the sea serpent does (although very few).
My concept of aggressiveness has more to do with the absence of fear before beings superior in size and strength, facing them without hesitation face to face. I also value the predation capacity, there are carnivorous animals that must consume their entire weight daily to survive. Obviously this forces them to be authentic killing machines.
Finally, I also value territorial aggressiveness. There are species that will defend their perimeter or territory with nails, teeth or horns. For all that said, if you wish, read on our site my list of the most aggressive animals in the world.
Mustelids
The mustelids are a family of animals that include some of the most ferocious and aggressive on the planet. Fortunately for man and the rest of the animals, the wisdom of Nature has constrained all this enormous capacity to kill in small bodies.
The ermine, Mustela erminea, has more than 30 subspecies distributed throughout the planet. It is the smallest of the mustelids (100 to 300 gr.), but this does not prevent it from hunting prey 20 times heavier than itself. The hunting technique used is to surprise its prey from behind and bite it in the neck with its razor-sharp teeth. Immediately it does not stop enlarging the wound until its victim bleeds to death. It has a lightning agility of movements. If you have ever thought that the stoat as a pet could be a good idea, it is because you did not know this information.
Glutton
-
The glutton, Gulo gulo, after the giant sea otter, is the second largest of the mustelids. Its solid, compact and muscular appearance is more similar to that of a small bear than that of most mustelids, which are slender and slender. His ferocity, strength and predatory ability are legendary. It is known that it is not afraid of confronting wolves or bears, forcing them to back off and retreat. These large predators know that it is not good business to fight with a wolverine. A curious thing about the wolverine is that its hair never freezes, and for this reason it is used to trim the hoods of the members of arctic and antarctic missions that require efficient face protection. Wolverines inhabit northern boreal forests.
The ratel
The ratel, Mellivora capensis, is also known as the honey badger. This mustelid that measures 85 cm. by 30 cm. tall, and weighs 14 kg., it is known for its unparalleled toughness as it faces its predators (leopards and lions) without backing down and on many occasions makes them give up their hunting spirit. The speci alty of the ratel when fighting lions or leopards is to seek their crotches and cause damage with their powerful nails and teeth in the "family jewels" of the feline. Therefore, many of them sensibly give up their hunt.
There are many more examples of ferocity among mustelids, but the three above are good examples of their congenital aggressiveness.
Except for sudden climatic changes, mustelids in general are not threatened. The opposite is happening, they are spreading and annihilating other native species.
Soricids
The soricid family includes tiny beings called shrews. The smallest of them measures a maximum of 5 cm., with a maximum weight of 3 grams. The largest shrew measures up to 15 cm., and weighs close to 100 g.
These animals are killing machines. They cannot live more than 4 hours without eating, as they need to consume their entire weight in insects, worms, lizards, mice or snails each day.
- The shrew, Suncus etruscus, also called dwarf shrew, is the smallest of its species. It does not exceed 5 cm., nor does it exceed 3 g in weight. The heart rate of this animal is a brutal number: 1200 beats per minute. It is the smallest land mammal, but due to its high energy expenditure it cannot stop eating insects.
- The house shrew, Suncus murinus, is the largest of its kind. You need to eat incessantly because your metabolism is very high. It hunts mice, despite the fact that it does not exceed 100 g, and measures a maximum of 15 cm; but it also feeds on lizards, carrion, worms and even exceptionally hunts rats. Shrews secrete a poison that weakens their prey.
Hippos
The hippos, Hippopotamus amphibius, despite being herbivorous, are very dangerous animals due to their aggressiveness. They are the animals that cause the most human victims on the African continent (apart from the mosquitoes that inoculate diseases).
Males are larger than females. There are data of hippopotamuses of 5, 2 meters and 4500 kg of weight. There are 4 subspecies distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They can live 40 years, or 50 if they are captive in zoos. Despite their volume they can reach 30 km/h for short distances.
Hippos have historically been considered the most dangerous mammals to humans in Africa. A revealing fact is that Pharaoh Narmer (the first pharaoh, who united Upper and Lower Egypt), died as a result of an attack by a hippopotamus during a hunting party.
Mantodeans
The Mantodeans is an Order that encompasses the Mantids, whose best-known representative is the praying mantis. All mantids eat other insects, and even the largest ones can eat mice, frogs, and other small vertebrates. They are very aggressive insects, but they are not dangerous. They have no poison. They occasionally practice cannibalism.
The praying mantis is distributed almost all over the world. The aggressiveness of the mantids is harmless to humans, but lethal to other insects.
The females are larger than the males and some have a very ugly habit: they eat the males while they are copulating or after finish, the very…, bad. Even if the courtship of the male does not convince her, she can have a snack before the act.
Another horrifying custom is that when they catch a prey they begin to eat it alive, while the victim struggles between their serrated legs. Watching footage of a praying mantis hunting prey, only to see it immediately gobble it up alive is a terrifying sight.
The leopard seal
The leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonix, is a terrible and highly aggressive animal. He is not afraid of anything or anyone. To the point that many biologists and naturalists who study the Antarctic fauna, leave for other colleagues the discoveries that can still be made about this huge unknown phocid. The reason for this apathy in his study is that when he sees you, he goes after you.
Adult females are larger than males, reaching 4 meters and weighing 600 kg.
Its usual prey is the emperor penguin, other seals, fish, squid and carrion. Killer whales and large sharks hunt young leopard seals, but rarely attack adults.
Leopard seals have relatively small mouths for their size, which is why they use a brutal hunting technique. Once they have strongly bitten any part of their prey, they shake their heads with extraordinary violence to hit their victim against the ground until they finish it off. If they hunt in the water, they tear off pieces of their prey.
Image of a leopard seal from National Geographic:
Herpestidae
Herpestidae are the animals to which the mongooses Currently there are 33 species of mongoose, and a common trait is their value and aggressiveness. They are distributed throughout Eurasia and the African continent. Its size and weight range between 30 cm., and 280 g of the dwarf mongoose; at 120 cm., and 4 kg that the white-tailed mongoose weighs.
The Mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, is one of the most common mongooses. This mongoose, like other species of herpestidae, have snakes in their diet, some of them poisonous. The mongoose measures up to 60 cm., and its weight ranges between 2 and 4 Kg. If it is cornered, it does not hesitate to face lions.
Mongooses are distributed throughout the temperate and equatorial zones of the planet. In rural India it is common to have domestic mongooses, whose function is to hunt rodents, but also snakes of all kinds, including cobras.
The most dangerous animal
Any female protecting her young, whatever her species, can become under certain circumstances tremendously aggressive. The species doesn't matter. A mother will kill or be killed to protect her offspring from her.
