Whale shark

The largest fish alive, and the useful living yardstick for every extinct shark claim. Females average around 14 meters and can weigh about 18 tons, and reported maximum lengths vary widely depending on who measured and how, with figures near 18 meters among the larger ones quoted. Seeing a whale shark beside a reconstruction of megalodon makes the fossil's size easier to judge. The 16-meter megalodon implied by the Belgian spine is within the range of the biggest whale sharks, and only the extinct predator's upper estimates clearly exceed them, in bulk far more than in length.