SHARK VS SHARK

Bull sharkvsOtodus obliquus

Length, weight and bite evidence—plus context from a human, city bus and blue whale. Every number below carries its uncertainty with it.

LivingCarcharhinus leucas×ExtinctOtodus obliquus
QUICK VERDICT

Otodus obliquus is about 2.3× longer by these reference values.

Otodus obliquus uses a 9.1 m upper reference, compared with 4 m for Bull shark. A clean mass ratio is not shown because at least one weight is not reliably reconstructed.

01

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS
ABull sharkreported to 4 m / 13 ft
BOtodus obliquusestimated to about 9.1 m / 30 ft
REFAdult human1.8 m · about 80 kg

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.

02

THE NUMBERS

Side by side.

MeasureBull sharkOtodus obliquus
Length referencereported to 4 m / 13 ftestimated to about 9.1 m / 30 ft
Weight referencereported to 316.5 kg / 698 lbNot reliably reconstructed
Bite force170–5,914 N across studied sizes and bite pointsModeledNo defensible estimate usedUnknown
TimeCoasts, estuaries and freshwaterabout 56–45 million years ago
DietFish, rays, turtles and other sharksLarge fishes and marine vertebrates
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Bull shark is represented by reported to 4 m / 13 ft; Otodus obliquus by estimated to about 9.1 m / 30 ft. The 4 m figure is a reported maximum; typical mature animals are smaller. Soft-body dimensions are inferred from teeth and living analogues.

Bite evidence

Bull shark: The upper value is a theoretical posterior bite for the largest specimen in a 73–285 cm study series—not a universal adult bite. Otodus obliquus: No species-specific model is used.

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 freshwater range is exceptional among large coastal sharks. It belonged to the megatooth lineage that later produced megalodon.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Bull sharkHabegger et al. (2012) + Florida MuseumOtodus obliquusPaleobiology DatabaseHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →