The
whale shark (
Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving
filter feeding shark and the largest known
extant fish
species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of about , and unconfirmed reports of considerably larger whale sharks exist. Claims of individuals over long and weighing at least are not uncommon. The whale shark holds many records for sheer size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the largest living nonmammalian vertebrate. It is the sole member of the genus
Rhincodon and the family,
Rhincodontidae (called
Rhiniodon and Rhinodontidae before 1984), which belongs to the subclass
Elasmobranchii in the class
Chondrichthyes. The species originated about 60 million years ago.