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Fandom
dune.fandom.com › wiki › Sandworm
Sandworm | Dune Wiki | Fandom
3 days ago - The sandworm was an autotrophic animal that inhabited the planet Arrakis. Where they originated is unknown, but were introduced to Arrakis before the events of the Butlerian Jihad. It lived in the vast deserts and sand dunes that stretched across the surface of the planet. Most importantly...
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University of Utah
biology.utah.edu › faculty-news › the-science-of-the-sandworms-of-dune
The science of the sandworms of ‘Dune’ - School of Biological Sciences
November 1, 2021 - For comparison, the largest dinosaur was believed to be 35 to 40 meters. Adult blue whales, the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, measure in at about 34 meters and a whopping 380,000 pounds. The sandworms of Dune are 10 times that size.
Discussions

Roughly how large is the population of Sandworms on Dune? - Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange
The same article also stated that Sandworms are territorial and so will claim an area of desert as their own. That got me to thinking, just how big is the planet Dune in comparison to Earth and has anyone worked out from its size how many sandworms could be present on the planet at any one time? More on scifi.stackexchange.com
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February 18, 2020
Sandworm Size Chart
Wut?! I don't get it. Shai Hulud compared to these little things? Should be way off the scale More on reddit.com
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August 30, 2013
Realistic size of Sandworms ?
400m sounds fine to me — and that’s monumentally humongous, by the way. A modern blue whale is, what, 30 meters long, maximum? I could easily see Guild ships being smaller than 400m, at least in terms of length. I never assumed that Guild ships were all gigantic. I’m sure they have a variety of sizes for different purposes; maybe the Guild runs VIP passenger-only frigates that aren’t huge. More on reddit.com
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May 11, 2023
Why are there no depictions of the sandworm that shows the fire inside of it?
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September 24, 2020
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@theU
attheu.utah.edu › facultystaff › dunes-sandworms-fact-vs-fiction-with-a-u-worm-wrangler
‘Dune’ sandworms: Fact vs fiction with a U worm wrangler - @theU
“Dune” is one of these amazing ... really, really cool. It’s written in the books that they’re supposedly adults at 400 meters long, or about four football fields in size....
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ScreenRant
screenrant.com › home › movies › movie features › how long dune's sandworms really are (compared to star wars' sarlacc)
How Long Dune's Sandworms Really Are (Compared To Star Wars' Sarlacc)
October 25, 2021 - A thumper may also be used to distract the sandworm or lure them in to be captured and ridden through the desert. Sarlaccs may have been based on the sandworms, but there are some notable differences. ... In every Dune adaptation, sandworms are enormous and imposing.
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Dune: Awakening Wiki
awakening.wiki › Sandworm
Sandworm - Dune: Awakening Community Wiki
July 22, 2025 - Sandworms, also known as the Shai-Hulud by the Fremen, are enormous worms, living in the sands of Arrakis. Feeding on sand plankton and only emerging to protect their territory, being guided by the vibrations caused by their future victims. They can also grow to extreme lengths in the hundreds of meters.
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Scientific American
scientificamerican.com › article › meet-the-real-life-versions-of-dunes-epic-sandworms
Meet the Real-Life Versions of Dune’s Epic Sandworms | Scientific American
February 6, 2025 - In the film’s first glamour shot of a sandworm, a house-sized mouth ringed with teeth erupts out of the sand to swallow a whole platoon of soldiers. To find out whether the fictional worms in Dune share anything in common with real worms, Nature spoke with palaeontologist Luke Parry at the ...
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Top answer
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1.6 Million*

The only real information we have to go on is a line by Dr. Kynes about the size of a worm's territory. From Dune:

“Big ones may control three or four hundred square kilometers. Small ones—”

According to the non-canonical Dune Encyclopedia, Arrakis has a radius of approximately 6,128 km, giving it a total surface area of 4.72×108 km2.

So, as a really rough estimate, let's make a few assumptions:

  1. Dr. Kynes never finished his statement, but lets say for argument that an average-sized worm's territory to be 250 square kilometres.
  2. Fifteen per cent of Arrakis' surface is inaccessible to worms (the Imperial Basin, the "wormline" surrounding the north pole, rock outcroppings, etc). This would leave a "worm-friendly" surface area of approximately 4.012×108 km2.
  3. Let's exclude altogether other stages of the worm lifecycle (sandtrout, etc), post-spice blow areas where they could be several new worms, as well as the "stunted worms" kept by the Fremen.
  4. We'll also ignore instances of contested territories and rare occurrences of multiple worms rampaging after shield generators and the like, and the fact that these territories are probably highly fluid and ever-changing as worms mature and move about.

Using our extremely broad reasoning, we could say that:

401,200,000 / 250 = 1,604,800 worm territories of average size.

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To be technically correct, while being not at all helpful, at the time of God Emperor of Dune there was exactly one sandworm on Arrakis.

All other time periods, your mileage may vary.

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Monster Legacy
monsterlegacy.net › 2014 › 04 › 28 › dune-sandworms-arrakis
Sandworms of Arrakis – Monster Legacy
April 28, 2014 - The hole is twice the size of the harvester. Suddenly the machine turns and slides into the hole, parts of it EXPLODING. The SOUND is deafening. This is what Paul Atreides witnesses in his first ‘close encounter’ with a Sandworm, in David Lynch’s final script for the 1984 film adaptation of Dune...

colossal worm-like creatures in "Dune" novels by Frank Herbert

Heretics_of_Dune_cover-Sandworm_&_Sheeana.jpg
dune sandworm
A sandworm is a fictional extraterrestrial creature that appears in the Dune novels written by Frank Herbert, first introduced in Dune (1965). Sandworms are colossal, worm-like creatures that live on the desert … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Sandworm Dune franchise element
First appearance Dune
1965
Created by Frank Herbert
Factsheet
Sandworm Dune franchise element
First appearance Dune
1965
Created by Frank Herbert
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sandworm_(Dune)
Sandworm (Dune) - Wikipedia
November 26, 2025 - Due to their size and territorial nature, sandworms can be extremely dangerous, even to Fremen. The worms are attracted to—and maddened by—the presence of Holtzman force fields used as personal defense shields, and as a result these shields are of little use on Arrakis. In Children of Dune it ...
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Bustle
bustle.com › entertainment
Dune's Big Worms, Explained: How The "Makers" Are Connected To The Spice
March 24, 2022 - Official reports from Arrakis indicate that they can grow to sizes longer than 400 meters (1,312 feet) and wider than 40 meters (131 feet), and Herbert’s novel features at least one sandworm more than 2,700 meters (8,858 feet) in length.
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Angelfire
angelfire.com › movies › GodzillaTower › Documents › Sandworm_Dune.htm
Sandworms from Dune
Sandworm (Dune) A.K.A.: Geonemotodium arraknis, Shaihuludata gigantica, Shai-Hulud · Length: usually observed to be up to 400 meters, but can be larger · Diameter: 10:1 ratio, so a 400 meter long one would be 40 meters in diameter · Weight: a lot · Regular Abilities: large mouths with ...
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Nature
nature.com › news q&a › article
Meet the real-life versions of Dune’s epic sandworms
March 7, 2024 - Sandworms live underground and excrete a substance that becomes the all-important drug called the spice, and the Fremen ride them like giant sandy freight trains. In the film’s first glamour shot of a sandworm, a house-sized mouth ringed with teeth erupts out of the sand to swallow a whole platoon of soldiers.
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GQ
gq.com › culture › timothée chalamet › every *dune: part two* sandworm question you could possibly have, answered by a big *dune* guy
Every 'Dune' Sandworm Question Answered, From How They Make Spice to Why They’re Worshipped By the Fremen | GQ
February 29, 2024 - If you think about when the sandworm eats the harvester in the first movie, it's not like it's crunching down on you. The mouth is so big. I'd imagine that you're actually probably going to be crushed just because there's so much going in there and being compressed. But you'd have to consult one of the imperial ecologists. Just thinking of the Dune popcorn bucket depiction, what are the teeth like?
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Fandom
neoencyclopedia.fandom.com › wiki › Sandworm_(Dune)
Sandworm (Dune) | Neo Encyclopedia Wiki
JavaScript is disabled in your browser · Please enable JavaScript to proceed · A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser
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Funcom
pr.funcom.com › Dune-Awakening
Funcom Press Center - Dune: Awakening - Assets
Rise from survival to greatness and challenge the power of an Imperium in Dune: Awakening, a multiplayer survival game on a massive scale. Survive the sandworm, craft your ornithopter, build a fortress, and ascend to power on an open world Arrakis shared with hundreds of other players.
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Quora
quora.com › How-large-is-the-population-of-sand-worms-on-Dune
How large is the population of sand worms on Dune? - Quora
Answer (1 of 4): Its never well established. But we do know the population was reduced to a single worm at one point. In Heretics of Dune, Dune is completely destroyed by the Honored Matres but a single sandworm is rescued by the Bene Gesserit who use it to repopulate the species on their chapte...
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Game Rant
gamerant.com › home › movies & tv › dune: 7 fun facts about giant sandworms
Dune: 7 Fun Facts About Giant Sandworms
May 26, 2023 - Little is known about the life cycle of a giant sandworm, but they all start as small, leech-like creatures known as sand trout. They play a more important role in the novel Children of Dune, in which Leto II, Paul's son, joins with several of them to begin the process of becoming a giant sandworm-human hybrid.
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TikTok
tiktok.com › discover › dune-worm-size-comparison
Dune Worm Size Comparison | TikTok
November 16, 2025 - Not to mention the walls of its body would be so thick there’d be no room for anything else inside #stem Sources: 1. “The science of Dune’s magnificent, merciless sandworms” – Popular Science 2. “Could a Dune Sandworm Exist in Real Life?” – PBS 3. “The Insane Biology of: The Dune Sandworm” – Real Science (YouTube) Understanding the Magnificent Sandworms of Dune. Explore the science behind Dune's sandworms and their incredible biology, size comparison, and potential real-life existence.