SHARK VS SHARK

Common threshervsOtodus obliquus

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

LivingAlopias vulpinus×ExtinctOtodus obliquus
QUICK VERDICT

Otodus obliquus is about 1.20× longer by these reference values.

Otodus obliquus uses a 9.1 m upper reference, compared with 7.6 m for Common thresher. 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
ACommon thresherreported to 7.6 m / 24.9 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.

MeasureCommon thresherOtodus obliquus
Length referencereported to 7.6 m / 24.9 ftestimated to about 9.1 m / 30 ft
Weight referencerecorded over 340 kg / 750 lbNot reliably reconstructed
Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownNo defensible estimate usedUnknown
TimeTemperate and tropical open watersabout 56–45 million years ago
DietSchooling fishes and squidLarge fishes and marine vertebrates
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Common thresher is represented by reported to 7.6 m / 24.9 ft; Otodus obliquus by estimated to about 9.1 m / 30 ft. Length comparisons can exaggerate body bulk because the tail is exceptionally long. Soft-body dimensions are inferred from teeth and living analogues.

Bite evidence

Common thresher: Its hunting performance cannot be reduced to jaw force. 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

Much of its length is tail, which it uses to stun prey. It belonged to the megatooth lineage that later produced megalodon.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Common thresherFlorida MuseumOtodus obliquusPaleobiology DatabaseHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →