There’s an important question, that’s troubled people for a long time, which are better Dinosaurs or Sharks?

In this post we’ll go through some examples of both, to help answer this age-old question. We’ll look at a variety of factors, such as how long have they existed? Which is bigger? The most famous? Which is the weirdest? By the end, hopefully, you will be able to make a decision!

Dinosaurs Vs Sharks Round 1 Weirdest:

Sharks or Dinosaurs, which is weirdest? This one was a toughie. There are some absolutely mind-bending examples for both. We’ve picked out an interesting contender from each camp to go head-to-head!

Sharks – Goblin shark:

There are so many wonderful examples of truly weird sharks such as Frilled Sharks, Cookiecutter sharks, Hammerhead Sharks and Ornate Wobbegongs. I think the Goblin Shark tops the bill for me. This strange benthic (Benthic means it lives on the ocean floor) species isn’t about to win a beauty pageant. Its skin tends to be bright pink, with a long protruding snout and a jaw below it that can extend far out of its mouth!

Dinosaurs – Parasaurolophus:

This dinosaur reached lengths of 10 meters. It has extensions on the back of its skull. These had acoustic qualities and it’s believed it used to make loud trumpeting calls over large distances. If you ask me, it’s pretty strange having a trumpet on your head!

Round 2 Biggest:

Sharks – Megalodon

These huge sharks are believed to be the largest fish that ever lived (though the Blue Whale remains the largest animal to ever live that we know of!) with females reaching lengths of approximately 18 meters. The diameter of their bite was around 3 meters! Some experts date the Megalodon back between 145 to 66 million years ago. Weighing in at roughly 6500kg.

Dinosaurs – Titanosaurs

There’s a range of titanosaurs, some huge and some small – Titanosauria is a family of dinosaurs, with remains found across seven continents. They thrived right up to the end of the Cretaceous. With remains often being incomplete, it means we know little about them, unfortunately. One of the largest is the Patagotitan. Discovered in Patagonia, Argentina in 2014. With estimated sizes of 40m long and weighing in at an estimated 7700kg! It would have been truly massive!

Round 3 Fame:

Sharks – Great White Sharks

Thanks to the efforts of books and movies for years now the Great white is undeniably a famous species of shark. Instantly recognisable and often the image that jumps to mind when you hear the word shark. Often displayed as a relentless eating machine, set on devouring everything it comes across. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Between 2011 and 2017, 259 people died in selfie-taking related accidents, compared to 50 people killed by sharks!

The Sand Tiger Sharks at Blue Planet Aquarium are a close relative to the Great White!

Dinosaurs – Tyrannosaurus Rex

I think this has to be the world’s most famous dinosaur. Even earned a nickname, often simply called T. Rex. It is the leading dinosaur in countless movies and books, subject to huge budget documentaries and captivated people’s imaginations for over 100 years. The first remains were discovered in 1902 in Hell Creek, Montana. Making its first appearance in the movies 16 years later in 1918’s “The Ghost of Slumber Mountain”

This was a difficult one, as Triceratops and Velociraptor were definitely in the running, I’ve gone for T. Rex because of the iconic imagery a certain popular dinosaur-based movie franchise uses in its films to this day. Most importantly (to me at least) Tyrannosaurus Rex was the first dinosaur my son learned to point out. Though at 18 months old it came out garbled as “danasaras ex!”

Round 4 Which came first?

Sharks

These guys are ancient, with the earliest fossil evidence being as old as 450 million years, during the late Ordovician period. Sharks have seriously evolved as predators, surviving through 4 of the “big five” mass extinction events.

Sharks are even older than trees. Trees are understood to have emerged between 350 to 420 million years ago. Only a few creatures predate sharks, things such as Nautilus, Jellyfish, Ctenophores and Sponges.

Dinosaurs

Nyasasaurus parringtoni is currently believed to be the oldest dinosaur. Remains discovered in Tanzania are roughly 243 million years old. Footprints were found from early dinosauriforms dating to the early Triassic nearly 250 million years ago.

Sharks date back much longer than dinosaurs, a whole 200 million years!

Conclusion:

It’s still difficult to choose, they’re both pretty cool! We still share our planet with a whole range of sharks that aren’t too dissimilar to their ancient counterparts. The fact that we can still respectfully admire these creatures means I’m going to go with the Sharks!

The winner is:

Sharks!

Shark Conservation

Due to environmental pressures such as climate change and the human impact on their habitats, 1 in 3 Sharks and Rays face the threat of extinction.

We can still do a lot to save and coexist harmoniously with sharks around the world. We should do all we can to look after them. They’ve survived some serious extinction events before, I believe we shouldn’t be responsible for them disappearing now.

If you would like to help in the effort to save sharks check out these organisations:

Bite-Back: Set up in 2004 with the aim of combating overfishing and overconsumption of wild sea fish.

The Shark Trust: Who makes it their mission to safeguard the future of sharks through positive change. Achieving this through science, education, influence and action.

Tags: Dinosaurs, Shark

From sharks as big as buses to carnivorous whales, these enormous predators made pre-historic oceans a truly dangerous place to venture in. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the most amazing extinct creatures that once roamed the world’s oceans.

Ichthyosaur

Around 252 million years ago, there was a mass extinction event. This event led to the disappearance of a large number of animals, plants and other species. In fact, about 90% of ocean species and 70% of land species vanished as a result. The few species that did survive, evolved to better fit in with the new environmental conditions.

One species that did survive, originally a land creature that adapted to live in the sea became the Ichthyosaur. Ichthyosaur means “fish lizard” in Greek. They were fish-like in appearance, with a tail and paddle-style appendages used to propel and steer themselves. Though generally about 10 feet in length, certain fossils indicate that some ichthyosaurs could be over 40 feet!

Some lived and foraged in coastal waters at the edge of continents. While others swam in the open ocean, far from land. Like whales and porpoises today, they gave birth to their young at sea. Ichthyosaurs weren’t much use on land and would be helpless if stranded ashore.

Plesiosaur

The Ichthyosaur’s Nemesis. Plesiosaurs were large, carnivorous reptiles. Thought to prey on Ichthyosaurs. Their name came from the Greek for “near to lizards”, and they typically had broad bodies, flippers and short tails. However, their most distinctive feature was their huge neck. When scientists first assembled their fossils. They actually mixed up their long neck and short tails. Putting their skull at the wrong end! In fact, their necks were so big, that they usually accounted for over half of its 40-foot length.

Because of its body, it swam by flapping its fins in the water. This gave it the appearance of flying when submerged, much like sea lions do today. When it came to eating, the Plesiosaur is said to have fed by swinging its head from side to side through schools of fish. Capturing prey in its long, sharp teeth.

Megalodon

Like something out of a monster movie, the Megalodon was a terrifying spectacle. As big as a bus, and weighing in at the same as 10 elephants (which is about 70 tonnes!). The megalodon makes the great white shark look like a clownfish in comparison. Its name translates to “big tooth”, its teeth measured over seven inches long, the largest of any known shark!

You wouldn’t want to be in the water at the same time as the Megalodon. With the ability to bite whales in half with its enormous jaws and teeth. It was the top predator of its age, eating fish and dolphins. It would even snack on other sharks when it felt especially peckish.

Evidence of these monstrous creatures feeding frenzies exists in the number of fossilised teeth found on the ocean floor. Which have appeared on every continent except Antarctica. This is because sharks continually produce new teeth throughout their entire lives; meaning, depending on what they eat, the megalodon and other sharks may get up to 40,000 teeth in their lifetime.

Though these gigantic predators once ruled the oceans. It seems the only thing that could stand up to them, was nature itself. Roughly 2.6 million years ago, the planet entered a phase of global cooling. Because they survived in tropical waters, this drop in temperature was enough to wipe out the once-dominant species.

Basilosaurus

Although this scary-looking predator looked like a reptile, the Basilosaurus was actually a whale and a big one at that! At 50 to 80 feet long, they were fearsome, sharp-toothed beasts. Existing 35-40 million years ago.

Preying on animals considered too big by other predators of the age. Which goes a long way to show just how big this beast really was. That said, despite the Basilosaurus’ reputation as one of the ocean’s biggest predators. Studies revealed its movement was quite restricted. It had relatively weak muscles and couldn’t dive or swim for extended periods. Which means it probably only swam and hunted in waters near the surface.

Unlike today’s whales, they also lacked the ability to do a thing called echolocate. Which is when animals send out calls to the environment. They listen to the echoes of returning calls from objects near them.

Livyatan melvillei

Named after the biblical sea monster, you know it’s going to be big! Able to compete with the megalodon, it has a reputation as one of the ocean’s biggest predators. Living in the same oceans, consuming the same prey as the Megalodon. Livyatan was a hyper-carnivorous whale that ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal, aside from elephants’ tusks.

Though no bigger than today’s sperm whales, which also rely on suction to carry prey into their open mouths. Livyatan’s enormous teeth grabbed prey with huge chomps. Aided by its massive 10-foot-long skull that helped to capture and trap food inside. And with its echolocating abilities, other marine life didn’t stand much chance, even in the murkiest depths of the ocean.

Helicoprion

At 15 feet long, with a lower jaw made of a spiral of serrated teeth, the Helicoprion seems like a cross between a shark and a chainsaw. Though researchers aren’t entirely certain about the structure of this unique-looking shark. It’s generally accepted that when it consumed prey, the jaw closed. Then, unbelievably, the teeth rotated backwards in a sawing motion.

Dunkleosteus

A huge fish that could grow up to 30 feet long, the Dunkleosteus has been compared to an armoured tank. Rather than teeth, it ate its food using bony ridges and a bite force of 8,000 pounds per square inch. Evidence suggests that its jaw muscles were so powerful, it could have opened its mouth in one-fiftieth of a second, vacuuming food inside in no time at all! And because these ridges were so sharp, they had no problem biting through the bony bodies of other armoured fish.

Scientists have had to make educated guesses as to what the entire creature looked like. Since only the armoured skulls of the Dunkleosteus are left as fossils. However, we do know that it had an incredibly strong head to match its powerful bite.

Deep Blue Planet is home to the modern-day giants of the ocean, and you can get up close and personal with these incredible creatures. Click here for more details on how to book a shark dive experience at Blue Planet Aquarium.