Bad-smelling Alkanet vs Great Hammerhead

Alkanna maleolens compared with Sphyrna mokarran

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bad-smelling Alkanet	Great Hammerhead
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fish)
Order	Boraginales (Boraginales)	Carcharhiniformes (Ground Sharks)
Family	Boraginaceae	Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead Sharks)
Genus	Alkanna	Sphyrna (Hammerhead Sharks)
Species	Alkanna maleolens	Sphyrna mokarran

Conservation Status

Bad-smelling Alkanet

CR — Critically Endangered

Great Hammerhead

CR — Critically Endangered

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bad-smelling Alkanet	Great Hammerhead
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	40 years
Average Length	—	5.0 m
Average Weight	—	450.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bad-smelling Alkanet

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

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.

Bad-smelling Alkanet

The Bad-smelling Alkanet (Alkanna maleolens) is a species in the genus Alkanna. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

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.