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Life Lab
Whales that dive for hours, elephants pregnant for 22 months, and cells too small to see.
This page lists 14 source-checked comparisons in Life Lab, ranked from the biggest value to the smallest. Each table shows its unit, the year the figures describe, how sure we are, the date we last verified it and the sources behind it.
Topics: Diving, Pregnancy, Brains, Organs, Genes, Teeth, Bones, Food, Birds, Fish.
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Deepest recorded animal dives (meters)
Estimated Diving · As of 2023 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-LF-001
| # | Name | Value (m) |
|---|
| 1 | Cuvier's beaked whale Mammal, 2014 study | 2,992 m |
| 2 | Southern elephant seal Mammal | 2,388 m |
| 3 | Sperm whale Mammal, at least | 2,200 m |
| 4 | Leatherback turtle Reptile | 1,280 m |
| 5 | Emperor penguin Bird | 564 m |
Depths logged by tags on wild animals; single dives, not typical ones. Beaked whales can stay down for more than two hours.
Sources
Length of pregnancy (days)
Estimated Pregnancy · As of 2024 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-LF-002
| # | Name | Value (days) |
|---|
| 1 | African elephant Almost 22 months | 670 days |
| 2 | Sperm whale | 535 days |
| 3 | Giraffe | 430 days |
| 4 | Horse | 336 days |
| 5 | Human About 9 months | 270 days |
| 6 | Lion | 108 days |
| 7 | Mouse Under 3 weeks | 20 days |
Typical averages. Elephants are quoted between 640 and 670 days depending on the source, and every species varies by a few days.
Sources
Brain mass of adults (grams)
Estimated Brains · As of 2024 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-LF-003
| # | Name | Value (g) |
|---|
| 1 | Sperm whale Largest brain known | 7,800 g |
| 2 | African elephant | 4,783 g |
| 3 | Bottlenose dolphin | 1,550 g |
| 4 | Human | 1,350 g |
| 5 | Beagle dog | 72 g |
| 6 | Cat | 30 g |
Average adult brain mass. Bigger brains do not always mean smarter animals; body size matters too.
Sources
Weight of adult organs (grams)
Estimated Organs · As of 2024 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-LF-005
| # | Name | Value (g) |
|---|
| 1 | Skin Heaviest organ | 4,300 g |
| 2 | Liver | 1,560 g |
| 3 | Brain | 1,400 g |
| 4 | Lungs Both together | 1,300 g |
| 5 | Heart | 300 g |
| 6 | Kidneys Both together | 260 g |
| 7 | Spleen | 175 g |
| 8 | Pancreas | 70 g |
Average adult weights. Real organs vary with body size, age and sex, and the skin figure depends on how it is measured.
Sources
Number of chromosomes in each cell
Confirmed Genes · As of Wikipedia, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-007
| # | Name | Value (chromosomes) |
|---|
| 1 | Dog | 78 chromosomes |
| 2 | Chicken | 78 chromosomes |
| 3 | Horse | 64 chromosomes |
| 4 | Cattle | 60 chromosomes |
| 5 | Chimpanzee | 48 chromosomes |
| 6 | Human | 46 chromosomes |
| 7 | Mouse | 40 chromosomes |
| 8 | Cat | 38 chromosomes |
| 9 | Pig | 38 chromosomes |
| 10 | Fruit fly | 8 chromosomes |
Diploid chromosome number (2n) for typical body cells. More chromosomes do not mean a more complex species.
Sources
Water in body parts (% of weight)
Confirmed Organs · As of USGS, 2019 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-008
| # | Name | Value (%) |
|---|
| 1 | Lungs | 83 % |
| 2 | Muscles | 79 % |
| 3 | Kidneys | 79 % |
| 4 | Brain | 73 % |
| 5 | Heart | 73 % |
| 6 | Skin | 64 % |
| 7 | Bones | 31 % |
Typical water share of body tissues, from the U.S. Geological Survey. Values vary with age and health.
Sources
Share of resting energy used by each organ (%)
Estimated Organs · As of Wikipedia, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-010
| # | Name | Value (%) |
|---|
| 1 | Liver | 27 % |
| 2 | Brain | 19 % |
| 3 | Skeletal muscle | 18 % |
| 4 | Kidneys | 10 % |
| 5 | Heart | 7 % |
Approximate share of the body's resting energy use at rest for an adult, from a classic study of organ metabolism.
Sources
Teeth of each type in an adult human mouth
Confirmed Teeth · As of Wikipedia, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-014
| # | Name | Value (teeth) |
|---|
| 1 | Molars Including wisdom teeth | 12 teeth |
| 2 | Incisors | 8 teeth |
| 3 | Premolars | 8 teeth |
| 4 | Canines | 4 teeth |
A full adult set has 32 teeth including four wisdom teeth. Children have 20 baby teeth.
Sources
Vertebrae in each region of the spine
Confirmed Bones · As of Wikipedia, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-015
| # | Name | Value (vertebrae) |
|---|
| 1 | Thoracic Upper back | 12 vertebrae |
| 2 | Cervical Neck | 7 vertebrae |
| 3 | Lumbar Lower back | 5 vertebrae |
| 4 | Sacral Fused | 5 vertebrae |
| 5 | Coccygeal Tailbone | 4 vertebrae |
The sacrum has 5 fused bones and the coccyx has about 4 fused bones, which varies from 3 to 5.
Sources
Pairs of spinal nerves in each region
Confirmed Bones · As of Wikipedia, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-016
| # | Name | Value (pairs) |
|---|
| 1 | Thoracic | 12 pairs |
| 2 | Cervical | 8 pairs |
| 3 | Lumbar | 5 pairs |
| 4 | Sacral | 5 pairs |
| 5 | Coccygeal | 1 pairs |
The human body has 31 pairs of spinal nerves in total.
Sources
Vitamin C in common foods (mg per serving)
Confirmed Food · As of NIH, 2021 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-017
| # | Name | Value (mg) |
|---|
| 1 | Red pepper Half a cup raw | 95 mg |
| 2 | Orange juice Three quarters of a cup | 93 mg |
| 3 | Orange One medium | 70 mg |
| 4 | Grapefruit juice Three quarters of a cup | 70 mg |
| 5 | Kiwifruit One medium | 64 mg |
| 6 | Green pepper Half a cup raw | 60 mg |
| 7 | Broccoli Half a cup cooked | 51 mg |
| 8 | Strawberries Half a cup sliced | 49 mg |
Milligrams per typical serving listed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Serving sizes differ between foods.
Sources
Heaviest living birds (kg, maximum)
Estimated Birds · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-018
| # | Name | Value (kg) |
|---|
| 1 | North African ostrich Maximum mass | 156.8 kg |
| 2 | Somali ostrich Maximum mass | 130 kg |
| 3 | Southern cassowary Maximum mass | 119.3 kg |
| 4 | Northern cassowary Maximum mass | 75 kg |
| 5 | Emu Maximum mass | 70 kg |
| 6 | Emperor penguin Maximum mass | 46 kg |
| 7 | Greater rhea Maximum mass | 40 kg |
| 8 | Dwarf cassowary Maximum mass | 35 kg |
Maximum recorded mass of each large living bird, from the cited list.
Sources
Heaviest birds that ever lived (kg)
Estimated Birds · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-019
| # | Name | Value (kg) |
|---|
| 1 | Aepyornis maximus Estimated mass | 812 kg |
| 2 | Dromornis stirtoni Estimated mass | 491 kg |
| 3 | Pachystruthio dmanisensis Estimated mass | 450 kg |
| 4 | Brontornis burmeisteri Estimated mass | 350 kg |
| 5 | Pachystruthio indet Estimated mass | 300 kg |
| 6 | Dromornis planei Estimated mass | 300 kg |
| 7 | Genyornis newtoni Estimated mass | 275 kg |
| 8 | Struthio oldawayi Estimated mass | 275 kg |
Mass estimates of extinct birds from the cited list; estimates come from bones and vary.
Sources
Heaviest fish (tonnes)
Estimated Fish · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-LF-020
| # | Name | Value (tonnes) |
|---|
| 1 | Whale shark Maximum mass | 21.5 tonnes |
| 2 | Basking shark Maximum mass | 16 tonnes |
| 3 | Great white shark Maximum mass | 3.32 tonnes |
| 4 | Tiger shark Maximum mass | 3.11 tonnes |
| 5 | Giant oceanic manta ray Maximum mass | 3 tonnes |
| 6 | Giant sunfish Maximum mass | 2.74 tonnes |
| 7 | Ocean sunfish Maximum mass | 2.3 tonnes |
| 8 | Beluga sturgeon Maximum mass | 2.07 tonnes |
Known maximum mass from the cited list.
Sources