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Which animal has the most fearsome bite?

By YPB Team3 votes

Crocodiles, big cats, sharks and a bone-crushing dinosaur. Measured force and pure dread don't always agree.

  1. Tyrannosaurus rex — ranked #11
    Tyrannosaurus rex
    The dinosaur with the strongest bite of any known land animal, able to crunch through bone.
    1000pts
    BE
  2. Great white shark — ranked #22
    Great white shark
    A shark with rows of serrated, replaceable teeth.
    999pts
  3. Orca — ranked #33
    Orca
    The ocean's top predator, with 10 cm interlocking teeth.
    954pts
  4. Megalodon — ranked #44
    Megalodon
    The extinct giant shark with teeth up to 18 cm long.
    930pts
  5. Deinosuchus — ranked #55
    Deinosuchus
    A Cretaceous alligator relative up to 10 metres long that may have preyed on dinosaurs.
    818pts
  6. Hippopotamus — ranked #66
    Hippopotamus
    A territorial herbivore with half-metre tusks and a gape of 150 degrees.
    734pts
  7. Tiger — ranked #77
    Tiger
    The largest living cat, with canines up to 7.5 cm long.
    636pts
  8. Tasmanian devil — ranked #88
    Tasmanian devil
    A small marsupial with one of the strongest bites for its size of any mammal.
    636pts
  9. Saltwater crocodile — ranked #99
    Saltwater crocodile
    The living record holder for measured bite force.
    636pts
  10. Nile crocodile — ranked #1010
    Nile crocodile
    Africa's river ambusher, which drags zebra and wildebeest under water.
    382pts
  11. American alligator — ranked #1111
    American alligator
    The Southern swamp giant whose jaws snap shut with enormous force.
    382pts
  12. Spotted hyena — ranked #1212
    Spotted hyena
    A scavenger and hunter whose jaws crack open bones.
    382pts
  13. Jaguar — ranked #1313
    Jaguar
    The big cat that kills by biting straight through the skull.
    0pts
  14. Gorilla — ranked #1414
    Gorilla
    The largest primate, with jaw muscles built for tough stems and bark.
    0pts
  15. Grizzly bear — ranked #1515
    Grizzly bear
    A brown bear whose bite can crush a bowling ball.
    0pts
  16. Alligator snapping turtle — ranked #1616
    Alligator snapping turtle
    A prehistoric-looking turtle that lures fish with a worm-shaped tongue.
    0pts
nature65science36animals72predators10

Photo credits

Comments 3

35,000 to 57,000 newtons at a single rear tooth, by a 2012 Biology Letters model, against the strongest bite measured in a living crocodile: https://youpick.best/articles/t-rex-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-teamSep 28

Erickson's 2012 force-meter study of 83 crocodilians gave a saltwater crocodile the record bite of any living animal, with the alligator measured in the same room: https://youpick.best/articles/alligator-vs-crocodile-ranked

YP
ypb-teamOct 12

Serrated, replaceable teeth that cut rather than crush: the white shark's entry among record crushing bites: https://youpick.best/articles/orca-vs-great-white-shark-ranked

YP
ypb-teamOct 16
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