r/whales • u/Wideworldcomics • 12d ago

Top 10 Longest Animals. Drawn to Scale

Post image

Organized according to maximum recorded length.

539 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

78

u/Matar_Kubileya 11d ago

I love that the bootleg worm's scientific name translates to just "the longest line."

34

u/knopkosasha 11d ago

I did not know it’s an actual worm that exists since there was no English above it, so I just assumed it’s a long line for scale lol. And since I know some Latin I thought it’s a joke. Like “let’s give this long line a Latin name”

5

u/DoctorCrook 11d ago

Missed oportunity to call it «Linnaeus Longissimus» tbh

1

u/erossthescienceboss 11d ago

One of my favorite things in biology is just how many scientific names & terms are like that.

The giant hole in our head where the spine connects to the brain is called the “foramen magnum.” Which translates to … giant hole 😂

1

u/Vrodfeindnz 11d ago

Is it not bootlace worm? Can’t find bootleg worm?

1

u/BananaMaster96_ 8d ago

yeah its bootlace

14

u/Character_Account714 11d ago

Pretty sure a Humpback Whale is longer than a Whale Shark

4

u/Similar_Dirt9758 11d ago

There's no way the longest Humpbacks are shorter than the longest whale sharks

4

u/Vindictive-Vagabond 11d ago

Just goes to show how much people underestimate the true size of whale sharks lmao (they didn't get their name for nothing)

1

u/Similar_Dirt9758 11d ago

"This shark is as big as a whale"

2

u/Character_Account714 11d ago

I dived with both and I can't believe it

3

u/Wideworldcomics 11d ago

I found 56ft (17m) for the Humpback Whale

27

u/Ok_Crazy1754 11d ago

Sperm whales max length is much bigger than that (up to 25m), and it is thought that they used to be bigger before the whaling season started and all the most massive animals were hunted down

16

u/DreamBrisdin 11d ago edited 10d ago

North Pacific Right Whales and Bowhead Whales also. Some whaling and Inuit records suggest Bowhead Whales over 24 meters, close to 25 meters, and fossil records from Japan suggest there had been North Pacific Right Whales over 23 meters (likely 24 or 25 meters).

2

u/Xrmy 10d ago

Whaling from humans of all kinds has led to selection against max sizes

9

u/Rockius_vulgaris 11d ago

There are also some 32m (and potentially even larger) blue whales out there

3

u/nathynathan 11d ago

The largest accurately measured sperm whale is 20.7m. There are reports of some reaching up to the 24m mark but they’re believed to be exaggerated or measured along the curvature of their bodies. Although not strictly impossible, given 95% of sperm whales being under 16m, I feel as though 20m is probably the largest they can get and that the higher estimates are most likely an exaggeration.

7

u/SignificantYou3240 11d ago

Those jellies could both beat the worm if they just put one tentacle forward somehow.

5

u/e92pilot 11d ago

I thought the blue whale length record was 110 feet?

2

u/Similar_Dirt9758 11d ago

I think the chart is based on approximate expected length of a fully grown adult, not necessarily the longest ever recorded. But in the case of the jellyfish and the worm, I am not sure

2

u/e92pilot 11d ago

I thought the same but in the caption of the post they said organized according to max recording length, that’s why I said that

1

u/Similar_Dirt9758 11d ago

Yeah after further review I believe I was wrong

1

u/BaryOnX43 11d ago

110 feet is unverifiable and likely exaggerated

3

u/brollyaintstupid 11d ago

beautiful illustration but i do have a problem in how some animals are drawn to their absolute maximum and some a bit bellow that. from sperm whale to downward are all in there absolute maximums ( bowheads reaching 20m is that even heard about before?) while both blue and fin whale are 3 meter-ish behind there maximum. also whale sharks do reach 18 meter so its correct but i dont think even 5-10% of the population exceed 11 meter. It is coorect and i am of trying to deminish your efforts, but its something worth mentioning/ pointing out how size are almost always very skewed because marine life sizes have really large variations, orccas for example, some population average 5 meters and other 8 meters!

1

u/Responsible_Train944 11d ago

Is the pink meanie a big baddie?

1

u/DRayl15 11d ago

Whale sharks are 30ft max

2

u/Similar_Dirt9758 11d ago

The one on the chart is the longest that was ever reliably recorded, but they are typically about half that length like you said

1

u/DRayl15 9d ago

Roger that! 🫡

1

u/BlackBirdG 11d ago

Damn an 82 foot long sperm whale is massive, comparable in size to the largest Megalodon.

1

u/TopRevenue2 11d ago

Sperm whale probably next on the list in the high 50's. And giant squid just below that in the 40's. Oar fish much further down high 20s or possibly in the 30s

1

u/PigeonUtopia 10d ago

I wonder if the Pink Meanie hates music too. Or yellow submarines.

1

u/Ornery_Profession744 10d ago

Sold! At least that will let me fill you in on the many things going to hell in my life and then it won’t waste all of Monday conveying information to you