50 Photos To Remind Everyone That Many Animals Are Way Bigger Than Most Of Us Think

We usually imagine felines as cute little furballs who, no matter how fast they grow up, still fit into our lap just fine. But there’s one cat breed known as the Maine coon that can easily reach up to 40 inches. In comparison, the average size of an adult domestic cat comes in at as little as 8 to 10 inches.

In order to find out more about the scale of these massive felines, Bored Panda reached out to Jess Beckwith, a professional Maine coon breeder based in the United Kingdom from RudyCats.co.uk. Jess told us that Maine coons are referred to “as the dogs of the cat world, not only because of their incredible personalities, but also because of their size.”

They’re the biggest domestic cats and can range from 11 to 33 pounds when fully grown. Two of Jess’s “young neutered boys currently hit the scales at around 21 pounds.” Meanwhile, the largest Maine coon is named Barivel and he measures a whopping 3 feet and 11.2 inches from head to tail tip. That makes him longer than a baseball bat.

However impressive the scale of Maine coons may be, it’s not the most important feature when it comes to exhibitions. Jess said that “good bone structure, features, and the ‘not too extreme’ look is best, as well as temperament and health, of course,” are more important for winning a title in the big game.

This big boy who resembles an oversized guinea pig is, in fact, a nocturnal marsupial known as a wombat (Vombatus ursinus). Patrick has stolen people's hearts by being both incredibly cute and gigantic. Weighing 84 pounds, he is one of the largest (and oldest) wombats ever to have lived.

Only quite recently, a new, wombat-like species was discovered in Australia called Makupirna nambensis, which literally translates to “big bones” in the aboriginal language. The creature’s remains are now one of the oldest fossils found in the area, thought to date back to 25 million years ago.This boy could have weighed 330 pounds, which is more than five adult wombats living today.

Yet, Makupirna is still not the biggest. The absolute record-breaking wombat-like creature was called Diprotodon and it weighed over two tons. This powerful beast could have lived until 11,700 years ago.