SHARK VS SHARK

Tiger sharkvsGreat white shark

See the size difference first, then compare weight, habitat, diet and what the bite-force evidence can actually support.

LivingGaleocerdo cuvier×LivingCarcharodon carcharias
QUICK VERDICT

Great white shark is about 1.09× longer by these reference values.

Great white shark uses a 6 m upper reference, compared with 5.5 m for Tiger shark. Great white shark's weight reference is about 2.5× heavier.

01

ON THE SAME SCALE

Human. Bus. Whale.
Pick your reference.

RELATIVE LENGTH · 0–24 METERS
ATiger sharklargest specimens exceed 5.5 m / 18 ft
BGreat white sharkabout 6 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.

MeasureTiger sharkGreat white shark
Length referencelargest specimens exceed 5.5 m / 18 ftabout 6 m / 20 ft
Weight referenceexceptional estimate over 900 kg / 2,000 lbreported to about 2,268 kg / 5,000 lb
Bite forceNo dependable maximum foundUnknownabout 18,000 NModeled
HabitatTropical and warm-temperate seasTemperate seas worldwide
DietTurtles, fishes, birds, carrion and moreFish, rays and marine mammals
03

WHAT SETS THEM APART

More than a size contest.

Length and weight

Tiger shark is represented by largest specimens exceed 5.5 m / 18 ft; Great white shark by about 6 m / 20 ft. Both values describe exceptional animals, not an average adult. Maximum length and mass are exceptional upper-end figures.

Habitat and diet

Tiger shark: Tropical and warm-temperate seas; turtles, fishes, birds, carrion and more. Great white shark: Temperate seas worldwide; fish, rays and marine mammals.

Bite evidence

Tiger shark: Popular figures are often repeated without a traceable species-level method. Great white shark: A 3-D finite-element model predicted the bite of a very large individual; it was not measured on a living shark.

Records are not averages

Both species are living, but record-sized individuals are rare. These upper references should not be read as normal adult size.

04

TRACE THE CLAIMS

Sources and limits.

Tiger sharkFlorida Museum ↗Great white sharkWroe et al. (2008) + Florida Museum ↗How we standardize comparisonsRead the methodology →