Megamouth shark is about 1.60× longer by these reference values.
Megamouth shark uses a 7.1 m upper reference, compared with 4.45 m for Shortfin mako. Megamouth shark's weight reference is about 2.1× 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 THE DATA CAN SAY
Size is not the whole animal.
Length and weight
Megamouth shark is represented by reported to about 7.1 m / 23 ft; Shortfin mako by reported to about 4.45 m / 14.6 ft. Sparse specimens make a true maximum difficult to establish. Record length and mass do not necessarily describe the same individual.
Bite evidence
Megamouth shark: This filter feeder lacks a comparable maximum-bite study. Shortfin mako: No directly comparable maximum bite-force estimate is used.
Living versus extinct
Both species are living, but record-sized individuals are rare. These upper references should not be read as normal adult size.
Ecology changes the matchup
Known from relatively few encounters, it still carries major uncertainty. Speed is its signature; the biggest animals are unusual and hard to verify.
TRACE THE CLAIMS