Giraffe vs Saltwater crocodile
Giraffe (5.5 m) is 1.06× the size of saltwater crocodile (5.2 m).
Saltwater crocodile is 95% of the height of giraffe. The gap between them is 30 cm (0.98 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giraffe | 5.5 m | 18 ft | height |
| Saltwater crocodile | 5.2 m | 17.1 ft | length |
What the scale shows
Giraffe (5.5 m) is 1.06× the size of saltwater crocodile (5.2 m). The gap between them is 30 cm (0.98 ft). Both are animals, so the figures describe the same kind of thing.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 95% of the frame while the larger one runs to the top. The two are close enough that the difference is easy to see side by side.
Read the rest — 8 more sections
What each figure means
The figure for giraffe is its height (the tallest males). The figure for saltwater crocodile is its length (a large adult male (4.1–5.2 m)).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing giraffe's 5.5 m takes 3.9 seconds and saltwater crocodile's 5.2 m takes 3.7 seconds.
In people: giraffe is 3.2 adults of 1.7 m tall, saltwater crocodile is 3.06. By size giraffe is 9th of the 23 animals on this site and saltwater crocodile is 10th, so 1 place separates them in the ranking.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The giraffe is given as a height, the tallest males. The saltwater crocodile is given as a length, a large adult male (4.1–5.2 m). One is a height and the other is a length, so the drawing stands them side by side by convention: everything is stood upright on a single baseline so one scale can hold. That is a fair way to compare overall extent, not a claim that the two are oriented the same way in real life.
Animal sizes vary from one individual to the next, so each figure says which individual or average it describes. Heights are taken at the shoulder or standing; lengths run nose to tail tip unless stated.
Where the pair sits among all the sizes here
Across all 86 things on this site, the giraffe is number 71 from the top and the saltwater crocodile is number 72. No other item falls between them, so in this collection they are direct neighbours.
Because the collection spans 13 mm up to 1,392,700 km, a ratio of 107,130,769,231× from smallest to largest, the position of a pair says a lot: both sit in the lower third of the list.
What the length ratio hides
A length ratio of 1.06× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the giraffe would have about 1.12× the surface or footprint of the saltwater crocodile, and about 1.18× the volume. For animals volume tracks weight, which is why a long animal is far heavier than its length suggests, and why a small animal cannot simply be a scaled-down copy of a large one.
The drawing above shows length only. The saltwater crocodile is drawn 95% as tall as the giraffe, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 89.4%, which is why the smaller one looks even slighter than the numbers alone suggest.
Time to cross each one
A sprinter holding about 10 m/s covers the giraffe in 550 milliseconds and the saltwater crocodile in 520 milliseconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 16 milliseconds for the larger and 15 milliseconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 22 milliseconds and 21 milliseconds.
These times assume a straight line and constant speed, which no real crossing has, but they turn a number in metres into something the body understands. At any fixed speed the travel times keep the same 1.06× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The giraffe measures 5.5 m, which is 18 ft or 6 yards. The saltwater crocodile measures 5.2 m, which is 17.1 ft.
The difference between them is 30 cm (0.98 ft). In metres the smaller one is 5.2 against 5.5, so the 1.06× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the giraffe or the saltwater crocodile?
The giraffe is bigger. At 5.5 m it is 1.06× the size of the saltwater crocodile, which is 5.2 m.
How many times does the saltwater crocodile fit along the giraffe?
Less than twice: the saltwater crocodile is 95% of the size of the giraffe, so one fits with 30 cm to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
No. The giraffe is a height (the tallest males) and the saltwater crocodile is a length (a large adult male (4.1–5.2 m)), so read the comparison as overall extent.
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, the giraffe is about 3.2 people tall and the saltwater crocodile is about 3.06. The gap of 30 cm is 0.2 people.
Where do the numbers come from?
Each item has its own page that names the measurement and links to the Wikipedia article it was taken from. Some figures are rounded, and animals vary from one individual to the next, so treat them as representative values rather than records for every case.
How the sizes are taken. Each figure says what it measures — height, length, diameter or elevation — and for which individual or convention. Everything is drawn standing upright on one baseline so a single scale holds, including things that are long rather than tall. Values come from the linked Wikipedia article for each item.