SHARK VS SHARK

CretoxyrhinavsGreat hammerhead

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

ExtinctCretoxyrhina mantelli×LivingSphyrna mokarran
QUICK VERDICT

Cretoxyrhina is about 1.15× longer by these reference values.

Cretoxyrhina uses a 7 m upper reference, compared with 6.1 m for Great hammerhead. 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
ACretoxyrhinaestimated to about 7 m / 23 ft
BGreat hammerheadreported to 6.1 m / 20 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.

MeasureCretoxyrhinaGreat hammerhead
Length referenceestimated to about 7 m / 23 ftreported to 6.1 m / 20 ft
Weight referenceNot reliably reconstructedrecorded to about 450 kg / 991 lb
Bite forceNo defensible estimate usedUnknownNo dependable maximum foundUnknown
Timeabout 107–73 million years agoTropical coastal and offshore waters
DietLarge fishes and marine reptilesRays, fish and smaller sharks
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Cretoxyrhina is represented by estimated to about 7 m / 23 ft; Great hammerhead by reported to 6.1 m / 20 ft. Length is reconstructed from fossils; mass is too model-dependent for a single figure here. The comparison uses the largest reported length and a record mass.

Bite evidence

Cretoxyrhina: TuffShark does not scale a bite value without a published species-specific model. Great hammerhead: Comparative biomechanics exist, but a simple verified maximum is not established here.

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

Teeth and rare skeletal material point to a large, fast lamniform predator. Its wide head is a sensory platform, not just an unusual silhouette.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

CretoxyrhinaSmithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryGreat hammerheadFlorida MuseumHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →