Basking shark is about 4.8× longer by these reference values.
Basking shark uses a 12 m upper reference, compared with 2.5 m for Hybodus. A clean mass ratio is not shown because at least one weight is not reliably reconstructed.
ON THE SAME SCALE
Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.
Length bars use upper comparison values and do not show body depth, tail proportion or typical adult size. A long thresher tail, for example, does not equal whale-shark body mass.
THE NUMBERS
Side by side.
WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY
Size is not the whole animal.
Length and weight
Basking shark is represented by reported to 12 m / 40 ft; Hybodus by about 2.5 m / 8.2 ft. The upper length is exceptional; the mass is a rounded comparison estimate. The genus spans a long interval and multiple species; this is a comparison reference.
Bite evidence
Basking shark: A comparable maximum-bite study is not available for this filter feeder. Hybodus: Tooth form suggests diet, not an exact force.
Living versus extinct
At least one animal is known from fossils. Fossil length, weight and bite estimates depend on which living analogues and scaling equations researchers choose.
Ecology changes the matchup
Its enormous mouth strains plankton; it is not built for a giant predatory bite. It was a shark-line relative, not a member of a living shark order.
TRACE THE CLAIMS