Megalodon is about 2.5× longer by these reference values.
Megalodon uses a 15.3 m upper reference, compared with 6.1 m for Great hammerhead. Megalodon's weight reference is about 107× heavier.
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 SETS THEM APART
More than a size contest.
Length and weight
Great hammerhead is represented by reported to 6.1 m / 20 ft; Megalodon by evidence-based upper estimate 14.1–15.3 m / 46–50 ft. The comparison uses the largest reported length and a record mass. No complete skeleton exists; 15.3 m is an evidence-based maximum from museum specimens, not a tape measurement.
Habitat and diet
Great hammerhead: Tropical coastal and offshore waters; rays, fish and smaller sharks. Megalodon: Warm and temperate seas worldwide; large marine mammals, turtles and fishes.
Bite evidence
Great hammerhead: Comparative biomechanics exist, but a simple verified maximum is not established here. Megalodon: Finite-element scaling produced a range, not a directly measured bite.
Fossils change the certainty
At least one animal is known from fossils. Fossil length, weight and bite estimates depend on which living analogues and scaling equations researchers choose.
TRACE THE CLAIMS