A great Dane that towers 2.2m on his hind legs is named the tallest dog ever recorded in the latest Guinness Book of World Records, launched yesterday.
The giant canine from Michigan, in the US, eats an entire 14kg bag of dog food every day and weighs 70.3kg, the 57th edition of the global records book says.
Measuring 1.12m from paw to withers - the point between the shoulder blades at which the official height of a four-legged mammal is judged - he is officially the tallest dog ever recorded, the volume claims.
"The most common thing people ask is: 'Is that a dog or a horse?'," said the three-year-old's owner, Denise Doorlag.
"We had to get a van to transport him. If he steps on your foot he leaves bruises."
The book names Oklahoma Sam, a four-year-old American mammoth jackstock, as the tallest living donkey on the planet.
Measuring 1.55m from hoof to withers, she dwarfs the average donkey (80cm) and the average for her own larger breed (1.22m).
The new book, which claims to reveal "the latest and greatest records in the universe", recognises the world's shortest woman as 18-year-old Joyti Amge, from the central Indian city of Nagpur.
The book bestows the title of the world's oldest gymnast on 86-year-old Johanna Quaas, born on November 20 1925 and a regular competitor in the amateur Landes-Seniorenspiele competition in Saxony, Germany.
Wouter van den Bosch, creator of the heaviest rideable bicycle at 750kg said: "Once I got this tyre, I started thinking about what I could make with it."
The Guinness Book of World Records, first published in 1955, has sold more than 120million copies to date in 22 languages and in more than 100 countries.
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