Altai Onion vs Great Hammerhead

Allium altaicum compared with Sphyrna mokarran

Key Differences

Altai Onion is Near Threatened while Great Hammerhead is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Altai Onion	Great Hammerhead
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fish)
Order	Asparagales (Asparagales)	Carcharhiniformes (Ground Sharks)
Family	Amaryllidaceae	Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead Sharks)
Genus	Allium	Sphyrna (Hammerhead Sharks)
Species	Allium altaicum	Sphyrna mokarran

Conservation Status

Altai Onion

NT — Near Threatened

Great Hammerhead

CR — Critically Endangered

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Altai Onion	Great Hammerhead
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	40 years
Average Length	—	5.0 m
Average Weight	—	450.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Altai Onion

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Great Hammerhead

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Taiwan, and Venezuela. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Altai Onion

The Altai Onion (Allium altaicum) is a species in the genus Allium. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Great Hammerhead

The largest hammerhead shark species, great hammerheads reach up to 6 meters and are found in tropical and subtropical coastal waters worldwide. Their distinctive T-shaped head (cephalofoil) dramatically increases sensory surface area for electroreception, enabling them to detect buried stingrays through sand with exceptional precision — stingrays are a preferred prey. Critically Endangered, with populations declining dramatically due to highly valued fins and bycatch mortality.