Dark matter is indistinguishable from dark energy.
Dark matter is a hypothetical type of matter distinct from baryonic matter ( ordinary matter such as protons and neutrons ) , neutrinos and dark energy . The standard model of cosmology indicates that the total mass -- energy of the universe contains 4.9 % ordinary matter , 26.8 % dark matter and 68.3 % dark energy . Thus , dark matter constitutes 84.5 % Since dark energy , by convention , does not count as `` matter '' , this is 26.8 / ( 4.9 + 26.8 ) = 0.845 of total mass , while dark energy plus dark matter constitute 95.1 % of total mass -- energy content .