Architectural Wonders of the Natural World

So you thought the ancient and modern wonders created by mankind and creative contemporary architecture were something? From underground ant colonies that extend farther than the Great Wall of China to termite mounds that tower at nearly twice the relative height of the Burj Dubai (tallest skyscraper in the world), and from the largest multi-species spider web ever discovered to the longest beaver dam on the planet, here are seven of the most awe-inspiring animal architects and architectonic structures of the animal kingdom.

1) Towering Termites: Massive Earth Movers

Termites are amazing creatures by almost any metric. Their queens are 30 times the size of normal soldiers and workers and produce about 30 eggs per minute to keep the colony alive. Relative to their size, termites build the biggest structures of the animal kingdom – .4 inch creatures constructing towers weighing hundreds of tons and up to 25 feet in height and 40 feet in diameter (the human equivalent of 4,600 feet tall). And that is just 40 feet above the ground -  termites can also burrow as far as 225 feet underground.

2) Social Weavers: Avian Condo Architects

The so-called social (or sociable) weaver bird is one of the friendliest flyers in the sky. They combine forces and take over entire trees to make what can only be considered something like an awesome animal ‘apartment’ structure. Instead of building independent nests, up to 300 pairs of birds come together to build giant mega-nests up to 25 feet wide, 5 feet high and with an individual room for every couple. As with a huge condo complex, there are multiple ‘basement’ entrances that lead up through clusters of chambers.

3) Naked Mole Rats: Uncanny Underground Diggers

The naked mole rat goes by many names, including the potentially misleading “sand puppy” which might imply that these voracious diggers are cute and friendly fellows. They are uniquely eusocial amongst mammals, meaning they are hive-like and massively organized creatures like ants, bees, wasps and termites only much much larger and scarier looking. To add to their eeriness, they are essentially cold-blooded and feel absolutely no pain. Up to 100 of these strange creatures live together in a single underground habitat, which they dig with disproportionately gigantic sets of teeth that are placed in front of (rather than behind) their lips so they don’t swallow dirt. Naked mole rats can live for up to 28 years and colonies feed on tubers (engorged plant parts) that weigh up to 1000 times as much as an individual mole rat does.