Shell diameter2 tenths m
1.7 hundredthsTelephone poles
200 billionGamma ray wavelengths
8.3 hundredthsCorn stalk heights
About 20 cm across
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Chambered Nautilus
A living fossil that has been cruising the deep for 500 million years/Marine Life
The chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is a cephalopod that has remained virtually unchanged for over 500 million years, predating dinosaurs by a quarter billion years. Its beautiful spiral shell contains gas-filled chambers that regulate buoyancy — essentially a natural submarine. Unlike its octopus and squid relatives, it has up to 90 tentacles but no suckers, relying on a sticky mucus instead.
Measurements
Weight1 kg
286 millionthsForklifts
3.3 thousandthsFull bathtubs
1.4 hundredthsAverage adults
About 1 kg with shell
Maximum depth700 m
5,833Candy bar lengths
383Dining table lengths
2,121Hammer lengths
Lives at depths down to 700 m
Jet propulsion speed3 tenths m/s
7.5 hundredthsRunning chickens
10.1 millionthsEarth orbit speeds
100 billionthsPercent light speeds
Slow but steady at about 1 km/h
Evolutionary age15.8 quadrillion s
7.6Dinosaur extinctions ago
1.3 billionSemesters
8.8 trillionPizza deliveries
Lineage over 500 million years old
Tentacle length1 tenths m
1,333Human hair widths
3.3 tenthsCelery stalks
Up to 90 short tentacles, about 10 cm each