SHARK VS SHARK

CladoselachevsHybodus

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

ExtinctCladoselache fyleri×ExtinctHybodus hauffianus
QUICK VERDICT

Hybodus is about 1.39× longer by these reference values.

Hybodus uses a 2.5 m upper reference, compared with 1.8 m for Cladoselache. 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
ACladoselacheabout 1.8 m / 6 ft
BHybodusabout 2.5 m / 8.2 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.

MeasureCladoselacheHybodus
Length referenceabout 1.8 m / 6 ftabout 2.5 m / 8.2 ft
Weight referenceNot reliably reconstructedNot reliably reconstructed
Bite forceNo defensible estimate usedUnknownNo defensible estimate usedUnknown
Timeabout 370 million years agoabout 250–100 million years ago
DietSmall fishesFishes and hard-shelled prey
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Cladoselache is represented by about 1.8 m / 6 ft; Hybodus by about 2.5 m / 8.2 ft. Calling it a modern-style shark hides major evolutionary distance. The genus spans a long interval and multiple species; this is a comparison reference.

Bite evidence

Cladoselache: No usable maximum-force model exists. 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

It was an early shark-like chondrichthyan with a streamlined body. It was a shark-line relative, not a member of a living shark order.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

CladoselacheSmithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryHybodusNatural History MuseumHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →