Squalicorax is about 1.62× longer by these reference values.
Squalicorax uses a 5 m upper reference, compared with 3.08 m for Nurse shark. A clean mass ratio is not shown because at least one weight is not reliably reconstructed.
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
Nurse shark is represented by recorded to 3.08 m / 10.1 ft; Squalicorax by estimated to about 5 m / 16 ft. Length is a recorded maximum; mass is a rounded adult reference. Body length and ecology are reconstructed from incomplete fossil evidence.
Bite evidence
Nurse shark: Suction performance is central to feeding and is not captured by bite-force rankings. 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
A small mouth and powerful suction suit its bottom-feeding life. Serrated teeth and bite traces show a broad, opportunistic diet.
TRACE THE CLAIMS