This Valentine’s Day, let’s celebrate the heart! In your body, the heart is a special organ with an important job. Hearts pump blood through the bodies of all kinds of animals. Heart rate is the number of times a heart beats per minute. Check out the bar graph and fun facts to learn more about hearts.
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Math,
Heart to Heart
Find out how animal hearts compare to your own
By Dani Leviss
From the February 2024 Issue
Heart Rates of Select Animals
rusm/Getty Images (Giant Tortoise); iStockPhoto/Getty Images (Elephant); ktmoffitt/Getty Images (Human); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
*TYPICAL HEART RATES ARE USUALLY SHOWN IN RANGES. THESE ARE THE MIDDLE VALUES.
Solve It! How does a human’s heart rate compare with the heart rates of other animals on the graph?
INCREDIBLE HEARTS
NOTE: ANIMALS ARE NOT TO SCALE.
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Biggest Heart
A blue whale’s heart weighs about 400 pounds—about as much as a motorcycle!
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Fastest Heart
The 2-inch-long Etruscan shrew’s heart can beat up to 1,500 times per minute.
Joel Sartore/Photo Ark/NaturePL.com
Most Hearts
The eel-like hagfish has four hearts! It has one main heart and three simple ones that help pump.
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