SHARK VS SHARK

HybodusvsSqualicorax

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

ExtinctHybodus hauffianus×ExtinctSqualicorax pristodontus
QUICK VERDICT

Squalicorax is about 2.0× longer by these reference values.

Squalicorax uses a 5 m upper reference, compared with 2.5 m for Hybodus. 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
AHybodusabout 2.5 m / 8.2 ft
BSqualicoraxestimated to about 5 m / 16 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.

MeasureHybodusSqualicorax
Length referenceabout 2.5 m / 8.2 ftestimated to about 5 m / 16 ft
Weight referenceNot reliably reconstructedNot reliably reconstructed
Bite forceNo defensible estimate usedUnknownNo defensible estimate usedUnknown
Timeabout 250–100 million years agoabout 85–66 million years ago
DietFishes and hard-shelled preyFishes, marine reptiles and carrion
03

WHAT THE DATA CAN SAY

Size is not the whole animal.

Length and weight

Hybodus is represented by about 2.5 m / 8.2 ft; Squalicorax by estimated to about 5 m / 16 ft. The genus spans a long interval and multiple species; this is a comparison reference. Body length and ecology are reconstructed from incomplete fossil evidence.

Bite evidence

Hybodus: Tooth form suggests diet, not an exact force. Squalicorax: Bite traces show feeding, not maximum 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 a shark-line relative, not a member of a living shark order. Serrated teeth and bite traces show a broad, opportunistic diet.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

HybodusNatural History MuseumSqualicoraxPaleobiology DatabaseHow we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →