The dueling diagnostics took place early Thursday, while most of Atlanta was fuming at the traffic or hustling the kids off to school:

In one corner, weighing about as much as a house cat, the toast of two nations, the poster child of cute — the baby-girl giant paaaaaanda!

BEN GRAY /Staff (ENLARGE)

Ralph the whale shark's checkup at the Georgia Aquarium shows he's gained anywhere from 500 pounds to a ton in the past 16 months.

JOHN SPINK/Staff (ENLARGE)

Baby panda at Zoo Atlanta has grown 2 inches since her Nov. 2 checkup. Next landmark date for baby is Dec. 15, when a name is chosen.

RELATED LINKS • Panda gets a shot | Photos | Video • Whale shark gets a checkup | Photos | Video BY COMPARISON HOME Giant panda cub: Zoo Atlanta Whale shark: Georgia Aquarium NAME Giant panda cub: None (it gets named Dec. 15) Whale shark: Ralph AGE Giant panda cub: 64 days Whale shark: Undetermined WEIGHT Giant panda cub: 7.2 pounds Whale shark: One ton, approximately LENGTH Giant panda cub: 21 inches. (She's grown 2 inches in the past week.) Whale shark: 22 feet. (He's grown 6 feet in the past year.) LENGTH OF EXAM Giant panda cub: 10 minutes Whale shark: 90 minutes EXAM HIGHLIGHT Giant panda cub: First vaccination, for canine distemper Whale shark: Blood sample HANDLERS NEEDED Giant panda cub: Three Whale shark: 10

Her opponent, heavy enough to crush a Corolla, the king of the tank, the talk of the town — Raaaaalph, the whale shark!

And in the middle, measuring and fretting over their vitals, the folks who gave each a physical exam at the same time Thursday morning — three vet staffers who handled the panda, and about 50 wet suit-wearing adventurers who participated in Ralph's checkup.

Obviously, zoo and aquarium folks are partial to their own exotic creatures. But what good is having a bunch of marquee animals at two facilities in the same town if you can't engage in some friendly one-upmanship?

Dennis Kelly, Zoo Atlanta's president/CEO, thinks the zoo, a part of Atlanta for more than a century, deserves to steal a little thunder from that new and fancy fish tank just on the other side of downtown.

"I'm like, come on guys, you've had the spotlight for a whole year," Kelly said with a laugh Thursday morning.

Jeff Swanagan, executive director at the aquarium, suggested his patient was superior. "It [Ralph] could teach the panda to swim," he said.

Or the panda could show Ralph how to climb a tree. But let's get into specifics in this zoological showdown:

The baby panda, a black-and-white ball of fur so thick that she makes shag rugs shed with envy, has grown 2 inches since her Nov. 2 checkup. She's now 21 inches long.

Ralph? He's picked up 6 feet in length since arriving at the aquarium in June 2004. He was a measly 16 feet long when he arrived, but has thrived in his 6.2 million gallon living room. He's now 22 feet long.

Miss Panda has been eating like a hog, nursing from her mama, Lun Lun. She now weighs 7.2 pounds — roughly a 1-pound weight gain in a week.

Ralph is turning into, well, a whale. He's gained anywhere from 500 pounds to a ton in the last 16 months. Researchers cannot come up with a better estimate because they won't take him out of the water for an exact weighing. Soaking wet, he now weighs between 1,700 and 2,500 pounds.

The panda, born Sept. 6 at the zoo, complained mildly and wiggled in the clutches of her handlers when her exam began. This took place in the heated confines or a room not much larger than an elevator. She squawked a few times, as most children will when they visit the doctor.

Ralph, born Lord knows when or where — he came from Thailand — was quiet as divers guided him from the depths of a tank the size of a football field. He came docilely into a hoist made of bright-blue tarp, flipping fins and a tail big enough to slap a diver out of the water. Ten people grasped the tarp, or helped hold the whale shark in place.

The baby panda submitted to a vaccine for canine distemper. She bore it gamely, without a peep.

Ralph got anesthetized for more than an hour by about 1,500 gallons of water mixed with anesthesia. He lay there, cold as a cod, while specialists took blood and other serums. If he said anything, no one heard him.

When they were done, the panda's handlers said their girl was doing great. They carried her back to her mama.

The people working over Ralph said their big boy looked good, too. They released him slowly, dropping his cradle back into the depths. Ralph swam a little shakily, shaking off the anaesthesia, while divers followed. He looked like a battleship, trailed by smaller cruisers.

The next landmark for the panda comes Dec. 15, when her name will be chosen in a ceremony, per Chinese custom, held 100 days after birth. Details have not been revealed, but the name will be chosen from candidates submitted by China, the panda's native land, and folks in the United States.

Ralph's calendar isn't so full, but he does appear headed toward a special time in his life. If he were a human, Ralph might soon begin pouting, heaving great sighs and complaining that his parents just don't understand. He's approaching biological sexual maturity, in other words.

So both animals are doing fine. Both facilities are tickled with them, and quick to give props to the guys on the other side of downtown.

Kelly, again:

"The whale sharks are unique, special animals, as are the giant pandas."

And Swanagan says Ralph is ready for swim lessons for the cub at any time.