Orca vs Reticulated python
Orca (8 m) is 1.15× the size of reticulated python (6.95 m).
Reticulated python is 87% of the height of orca. The gap between them is 1.05 m (3.44 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orca | 8 m | 26.2 ft | length |
| Reticulated python | 6.95 m | 22.8 ft | length |
What the scale shows
Orca (8 m) is 1.15× the size of reticulated python (6.95 m). The gap between them is 1.05 m (3.44 ft). Both are animals, so the figures describe the same kind of thing.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 87% 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 orca is its length (a large adult male (6–8 m)). The figure for reticulated python is its length (the longest reliably recorded).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing orca's 8 m takes 5.7 seconds and reticulated python's 6.95 m takes 5 seconds.
In people: orca is 4.7 adults of 1.7 m tall, reticulated python is 4.09. By size orca is 7th of the 23 animals on this site and reticulated python is 8th, so 1 place separates them in the ranking.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The orca is given as a length, a large adult male (6–8 m). The reticulated python is given as a length, the longest reliably recorded. Both are length figures, so putting them on one baseline is a like-for-like comparison, although the exact individual or convention still matters.
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 orca is number 69 from the top and the reticulated python is number 70. 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 1.15× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the orca would have about 1.32× the surface or footprint of the reticulated python, and about 1.53× 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 reticulated python is drawn 87% as tall as the orca, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 75.5%, 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 orca in 800 milliseconds and the reticulated python in 695 milliseconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 23 milliseconds for the larger and 20 milliseconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 32 milliseconds and 28 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 1.15× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The orca measures 8 m, which is 26.2 ft or 8.7 yards. The reticulated python measures 6.95 m, which is 22.8 ft.
The difference between them is 1.05 m (3.44 ft). In metres the smaller one is 6.95 against 8, so the 1.15× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the orca or the reticulated python?
The orca is bigger. At 8 m it is 1.15× the size of the reticulated python, which is 6.95 m.
How many times does the reticulated python fit along the orca?
Less than twice: the reticulated python is 87% of the size of the orca, so one fits with 1.05 m to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
Yes in kind: both are length figures. The orca is a large adult male (6–8 m); the reticulated python is the longest reliably recorded.
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, the orca is about 4.7 people tall and the reticulated python is about 4.09. The gap of 1.05 m is 0.6 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.