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I am making a titan like creature, similar to godzilla, that lives in a swamp like environment. What I was wondering is, how big could it be before it crushes itself under it's own weight.

Here is the info

  1. It has rock like skin and large, wooden like tusks.
  2. It has six large, thick legs and is quite a bulky monster.
  3. It is covered in thick vines and leaves
  4. It has no mouth or tail, and It is unknown how it really survives
  5. It has a mammoth like body

I was hoping to make it about 500ft tall, but I feel like that would be too tall and unrealistic. I would love to see what you think and I appreciate your answers!

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    $\begingroup$ If it uses any sort of realistic biology, once it is as large as a whale, it will crush itself under its own body weight. The most important part would be how complex and strong the bone structure holding everything up is. If its mostly solid rock your creature could be as tall as a mountain. $\endgroup$
    – Shadowzee
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 1:21
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    $\begingroup$ @Shadowzee while you're right, I also suspect that if you get it out of the water it starts to collapse at a much smaller size. After all, beached whales much smaller than an adult blue whale often die because of the internal stresses on their bodies in a much less dense medium than water. $\endgroup$
    – Tim B II
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 1:24

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No

You specified swamp. Now that is good thinking, because water is buoyant and the swamp is filled with water. Unfortunately, it's not even 10 feet deep, and you want a monster 500 feet tall. Now, there are all the standard problems, but let me introduce you to this big guy. The Argentinosaurus. The largest land animal ever discovered to date, it's a whopping 35 meters (115ft., roughly) long. Unfortunately, it had problems. A lot of them. It's top speed was 5mph because it couldn't move better and it mostly spent time in lakes so it wouldn't be crushed under it's own weight. Pretty much the maximum size of dinosaurs, add or subtract fifty feet. And you want to quintuple this thing's size.

And you have all the other problems. Like:

  • Being crushed under its own weight
  • Not being able to supply nutrients to all of its body because hearts just aren't that strong
  • The amount of energy required to survive (photosynthesis isn't enough)
  • The amount of energy required to move an object 500 feet high
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    $\begingroup$ Thank you so much! $\endgroup$
    – BloodyNightStalker
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 1:39

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