When you purchase through links on our internet site , we may realize an affiliate mission . Here ’s how it work .
In this adapted extract from " pungency : An Incisive History of Teeth , from Hagfish to mankind " ( Algonquin Books , 2024 ) , author and vertebrates zoologistBill Schuttinvestigates theextraordinary sharpness forceof living crocodilian reptile , as well as their formidable predecessors , DeinosuchusandSarcosuchus — the " most emphatic biters in history . "
" There are no ' pretty good ' crocodilian researcher , Gregory Erickson quipped . “ In my line of work , if you ’re not very good , you ’re overlook an arm or something . “Erickson , a prof of anatomy and vertebrate palaeobiology at Florida State University , also emphasise that it take a team of experienced handlers to secure the larger specimen . " We always have four or five multitude who really make out their stuff . "
Saltwater crocodiles have the strongest bite force of any creature alive today.
Though Erickson has a range of research interest , I ’d contacted him because of his inquiry into the biting demeanor of alligators , crocodiles and their relatives ,
Once strapped down , a tap on the snout unremarkably do the trial subject to open its sass , after which the bite bar is placed onto the rear teeth . That ’s because the laws of natural philosophy dictate that a measurement taken secretive to the jaw joint will cater the greatest pungency violence .
This placement also stimulates something consanguine to the stifle - jerk chemical reaction you might have experienced while being examined by a rubber - hammer - maintain physician . Here , though , the automatic response by the crocodilian is to chomp down on the pungency bar with full force . Although Erickson ’s first experimentation centered on alligators ( which wee-wee double-dyed common sense , given his Florida position ) , finally he and his coworkers were capable to obtain bit - force data on all 23 mintage of extant crocodilians , a group that includescrocodiles , alligators , cayman ( alligator relatives from Central and South America ) , and gharials ( narrow - snouted piscivores ) .
Researchers have found bite forces among crocodiles is solely dependent on body size.
" We endeavor to do three to five [ individuals ] of each mintage , " Erickson said , emphasizing that this practice increased the chances of hold a true indication of the bite forces for that species . Ultimately , the largest animals they value were several 17 - ft ( 5.2 meter ) saltwater crocodiles ( Crocodylus porosus ) , which , along with the Nile crocodile ( Crocodylus niloticus ) , materialize to be the species involved in the great issue of black and nonfatal attacks on humanity .
Erickson and his fellow researcher were concerned in determining how bite force varied between species . Before their cogitation , there had been several hypotheses predicting that bite military group in crocodilians would deviate calculate on factors like tooth shape , or the length or breadth of the jaw — variable that were readily discernible trait commonly used to identify the species in question .
In something of a surprisal , though , Erickson and his fellow feel that bit force was only pendant on organic structure size of it . " We got the same regression lines thump for pound , " he order me . In other words , if you had a crocodile , gator and caiman , each weighing 100 pounds ( 45 kilo ) , their sting forces would be the same .
Gharials are the exception to the rule for crocodilian bites, being far below their relatives in terms of force.
All the little coinage had smaller bite forces . The 17 - foot brine crocodiles generated a bite force of 3,700 pounds ( 1,680 kg ) , but when those numeral were scaled up to the historically immortalise 23 - footers ( 7 m ) , Erickson pronounce , " 7,700 pound [ 3,500 kg ] is not infeasible . "
There were , however , two exception to the size / bite force correlation : the two species of gharials ( Gavialis gangeticusandTomistoma schlegelii ) , whose long , skinny snouts see oddly out of seat attached to a dead body that can extend to 12 to 15 feet ( 3.7 to 4.7 m ) in duration or more and count in at up to 2,000 pound ( 900 kilo ) .
Their extremely elongated jaws are fit out with 110 interlocking , needle - like teeth , and the whole setup is marvelously well adapted for slashing through the piddle with small ohmic resistance . But their bite military unit is significantly below expect values for critter of that size . Erickson believes the gharials ' specialized fishing rig is the causa , and that it result in an evolutionary patronage - off in which bang-up chomp force was sacrificed for the interest of rapid fish - snatch ability , made potential by an exceedingly farseeing set of toothy jaw .
Sarcosuchuns was a 40 foot long crocodile-like creature that lived about 120 million years ago.
regrettably , the two endure coinage of gharials are critically endanger . Within the gharials ' riverine habitats on the northern Indian subcontinent , their number may have fallen to floor measure in the hundreds of individuals . Except for the narrow - nozzled gharials , all crocodilians , no matter their size , issue forth fit out with some earnestly powerful jaws .
Erickson hypothesizes that this adjustment evolved in ancestral crocodilian during the eld of dinosaur , enable them to cut up out an ecologic niche along the water ’s sharpness that they ’ve successfully agree for over 100 million years . He compared crocodilian multifariousness to commence out with a big , muscular locomotive , then tweak the attachment you could add to that megaforce - generate machine — tweak that would admit sport in the length , width and form of the " hooey out in front of the eyes " ( Erickson ’s condition for the jaw and teeth ) . These attachments helped the different crocodilians become better adapted to predate on a variety of creatures , from mollusc to angle , and from hiss to big plot .
When reckon the bite of a crocodilian , Erickson stressed the fact that just as important as the entire force-out a crocodilian jaw might produce is the airfoil orbit where that force is being utilise — in other words , the force per unit area , or pressure sensation . That ’s because this mensuration not only factors in the forcefulness get but also the condition of the tooth .
Erickson compare a pointy tooth like a crocodile canid to a shoe with a stiletto heel , which he described as more capable of damage a wooden storey than a shoe with a flat sole . The force applied to the earth by the gamy - heel wearer is lot across a smaller unit of measurement of area ( the tip of the high heel ) than it would be across the unspecific , matted fillet of sole of a sneaker . In pointy canine teeth , the bite force is distributed over a small surface area at the tooth tip , making them effective for piercing a prey ’s skin or fell .
Conversely , matt teeth , like premolars and molars , allot bite forces over a greater aerofoil country , gain them ideal for turning large chunks of intellectual nourishment into little chunk .
Of course , I was interested in the majuscule sting force ever generated by an animal , out or extant , so I involve Erickson . He told me that was a tough question ( presumptively in part due to the scarceness of researcher during the long time of dinosaur ) but that data points to a brace of prehistoric apex of the sun’s way piranha .
The first isDeinosuchus , a now - extinct crocodilian congeneric of modern alligators . Deinosuchuslived around 82 million to 75 million years ago in what is now the United States , where it reach lengths of almost 33 feet ( 10 m ) . " I do n’t think that any animal that has ever lived could have broken the grasp ofDeinosuchus , " Erickson tell me .
" So , what about escaping the grasp of an adult American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ) nowadays ? " I wondered . " How hard would that be ? "
" The bite military group of a very big alligator is about 3,000 pound [ 1,360 kg ] , about the weighting of a modest car , " Erickson pronounce . " So if you’re able to bench press a car , you are good to go … If not , you ’re lunch . "
— ' They felt like mad ' : Low - flying helicopter trigger off monolithic crocodile orgy in Australia
— Indian crocodiles seen saving heel from feral pack attack , but scientists separate over what it mean
— Cassius , the existence ’s tumid absorbed crocodile , could be even liberal than we thought
The second contestant in the Greatest Bite Force of All Time Contest isSarcosuchus . With a consistency duration of about 40 feet ( 12 m ) , this behemoth lived in what is now South America and Africa 133 million to 112 million years ago . Sarcosuchusis class as a crocodyliform ( a " crocodile - corresponding " creature ) . This means that although it surely had the look of a card - carry crocodilian reptile , Sarcosuchusis not believed to be an ancestor of modernistic crocodiles and their relatives .
Still , Erickson believes that , likeDeinosuchus , Sarcosuchuswas generating a bit force of 20,000 pound ( 9,000 kg ) , a phone number that his team judge by scale up the information from extant crocodilians . " I think they were justly up there with the most emphatic biters in story , " he told me .
There are apparently limits , though , on the amount of bite force play that can be father . These relate to how much tenseness can be placed on the enamel cover of a tooth before it shatter . But , Erickson reminded me , this eccentric of beast has a safeguard against that potential cataclysm . " Crocodilians all break their teeth , " he tell . " But they have one vantage over mammals — they can replace their teeth throughout their lives . "
From " Bite : An Incisive History of Teeth , from Hagfish to human race " by Bill Schutt . Used with permission of the publishing house , Algonquin Books . Copyright © 2024 by Bill Schutt . This excerpt has been edited for distance and lucidness .
Bite : An Incisive account of Teeth , from Hagfish to human - $ 31 at Amazon
From three - column inch fang blennies to thirty - foot prehistoric crocodiles , from gaboon viper to Neanderthals , Biteis a fascinating journeying through the natural , scientific , and cultural history of something mightily in front of — or in — our nerve : tooth .
InBite , zoologist Bill Schutt make a surprising instance : it is tooth that are responsible for for the foresighted - terminal figure success of craniate . The appearance of tooth , just about half a billion years ago , was an adaptation that allowed animal with backbones , such as fish , amphibian , reptile , bird , dinosaurs and mammals — let in us — to chow down in pretty much every imaginable surroundings .
Scientists discover 2 new specie of crocodile hiding in spare sight
Crocodiles are overheating due to clime change — and it ’s changing their behavior
The constant surveillance of modern life could worsen our brain single-valued function in ways we do n’t amply empathize , shake up study suggest
