No, no, no! The dwarf has the shotgun.
Shotgun comments aside, remember that gorillas do use weapons other than those permanently affixed to their body. They have been seen using clubs, at least, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one could be trained to use, say, a spear. If one could be trained to throw things as weapons, too, I think that we’ve got our winner right there.
Other Ultimate Zoological Fighting candidates:
The elephant: There’s no known land animal which can stand up to an African bull elephant in a fight, although they’re usually pretty peaceful. A T. rex might have been able to do it, had they ever coexisted, and if rexes were warmblooded. A cold-blooded rex would be too slow. Note, by the way, that elephants are also accomplished swimmers, so even sharks might not be out of the question (but I wouldn’t beton it).
The Tasmanian devil: No, they don’t actually do the whirlwind thing, but they’re next to impossible to kill. They seem to be immune to infection, and their wounds close almost immediately.
The box turtle: No offensive weaponry to speak of, but you just try to get one of them out of its shell… If you can find it in the first place. For a little less armor, you might go with a snapper instead, which have been known to take off fingers.
No fair training the gorilla. And throwing things will only work for the gorilla if the bear is unable to reach it.
**
A T. rex, if one were to ever come up against an elephant, would probably win. Even if dinosaurs were ectotherms (which, given the data available is highly unlikely), the size of a rex would have likely put him into the realm of mass-endothermy. Plus, one does not evolve into an efficient killing machine by being slow, Horner’s opinions notwithstanding.
**
Considering the Tasmanian devil was driven out of Australia by the arrival of the dingo, of all things, I don’t think they would pose much threat to either of the Main Event critters. Sure, it’s mean for its size, but in an absolute sense, many eutherian carnivores could probably take them down. There is a reason they are currently confined to Tasmania - they couldn’t compete.
More specifically, let’s talk Australian Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
The largest saltie in captivity is 19 feet, 8 inches long, and weighs over 1200 kg (2645 pounds).
I think I have a serious contender here, people.
having considered the evidence, I think I would have to go with the T. Rex as toughest animal thats ever lived and elephant as hardest one alive right now.
The Blue Whale is the largest animal that has ever lived on the planet but it has no real attacking ability.
I saw a nature show on TV about elephants and it said that crocodiles will attack any animal except elephants (even baby elephants). This is because elephants have been known to pick up the croc in their trunk and bash it against trees and then trample it.
An Aussie saltwater croc v a great white shark would be an interesting battle though. Think Id go with the croc there, but it’d be a close one.
I still wonder though about a full-grown male lion, it has everything - speed, strength, enormous fangs, expert predatory attacking skills. If it managed to sink those fangs into an elephants neck, the fight could be over.
Although I suppose the elephant’s sheer size and thick armour may mean it could survive the attack and the lion may not get another chance. Also elephants are pretty fast themselves when they need to be.
Darn it! Now you tell me.
C’mon, Bobo. Put down the rocket launcher. Let’s go home.
Killer whale VS great white anyone?
Oh, what about sperm whales? That’s about the biggest predator I know of that doesn’t strain krill for a living. 5-yard jaws, 2lb teeth, about 50 tonnes of weight to throw around, and a reputation for devouring sea-monsters:eek:! (Giant squid that is)
:: loyally ::
The Grizzly, baby! Every time!
Jodi, University of Montana class of '91, '95 Go Grizzlies!
A few years ago on the national news they were showing a home video of a fight between a killer whale and great white that occurred off the coast of CA, I believe (maybe San Francisco, not sure). Anyway, the killer whale tore the great white up, and fed it to her babies.
And I second the notion on the sperm whale.
Damn, and you just COULDN’T have said that ten minutes later? 
Oh well, I ALMOST had it.
Hippos are pretty gosh-darned mean, too. I was watching some nature show once (I forget if it was about crocs or hippos, but it showed the interaction between them) in which a young hippo (whatever they’re called) waded right through the middle of a group of crocs. They made way for it. It nibbled one. It moved away. Why didn’t they just eat it? Mom was close by…watching. It would appear that even crocs have a healthy respect for an angry hippo…
And speaking of crocs…here is a picture of a croc going after a bat(!)
Yes, just to change my mind once again…
Hard to compare the elephant and the sperm whale since they both operate in such different media - water and air.
However, imagine some new technology were invented which created a kind of “third dimension zone” in which both animals could operate according to their full capacity. A kind of Holodeck.
So they could meet on equal terms.
Id probably have to go with the sperm whale in that scenario.
But a T. Rex could do a sperm whale, I reckon.
If weapons are allowed, I’d go with a plain ol’ human - an
adult male.
With a tank.
Pound for pound, the amoeba is the most vicious animal on earth.
Returning to the strength of primates, I’ve often read that chimps, to say nothing of gorillas, are much stronger than humans. Maybe so, but somehow I’m a little suspicious - not that I don’t think chimps aren’t terrifically strong, but I don’t think the experimenters are giving humans enough credit. I don’t know the original source, but I’ve read in many places a quote that “…an enraged female chimpanzee recorded a 1200 lb pull…” Now I don’t know anything about the apparatus used to measure the pull, but I promise you the chimp got to brace against something because they don’t weight nearly enough to pull that hard otherwise. They’d move instead of the instrument until they DID get braced, one way or the other. So I propose you take a human, and we’ll cheat just a little and go for one on the upper end of the strength range but still achievable by many, say an offensive lineman from any of the bigger college football teams. And enrage them. I mean seriously enrage this person, and see just how hard this person can pull when braced. I’ll bet they’d give the chimp a really good run for the money.
Years ago I saw V. Alexiv (?), a weightlifter from the USSR, clean and jerk 575 lbs, and he wasn’t even particularly pissed.
What’s so scary about it? It isn’t as if the world will come to and end without Mountain Gorillas.
Marc
The idea of such a common species dying out is really scary. There are billions of human beings…compared to that 650 is nothing. You’re starting to sound like Wildest Bill, Marc.
Anyway, I’ve heard chimps can be really mean and vicious, contrary to the belief that they are cuddly and sweet. And that they are known to steal human infants. At least, according to Congo.
Could an unarmed human being possibly beat a grizzly bear, if they were highly trained in fighting? I could see a protracted fight, since humans can be very agile and are intelligent enough to figure out the patterns of attack their enemy uses, but would they be able to hurt the bear significantly?
The gorilla would win in less than a minute so long as he had one of these babies 
The unarmed human and bear thing… nope. Bears can defend themselves (most of the time) against another BEAR attack complete with teeth and claws and savage swats. Even your 7’ Isreali special forces tough-guy would be about as effective (unarmed) as a 6-month old child would be against you. I’ve read that it would be suicidal for a human to enter into a fight with a silverback without an axe or knife of some sort.
The guy with the bear suit on the link… AFAIK he’s never been able to test it yet. The only little blackbears he’s gotten near while laying in a garbage dump just ran away. I have a feeling if a bear wanted to get to the chewy meat center of that thing he’d just pin it down and start opening like a can opener (you’ve seen them pry off car doors right?)
Does flinging their own feces count as weapons? Because they already do that at the zoo without training.