Before embarking on this exciting classification, we must not forget certain factors. The first one is that all animals with teeth, are not necessarily able to bite. For example, the common garden snail has a raspy tongue called Radula composed of 14,000 small teeth. Those teeth are used to scrape but not to bite. Similarly, the blue whale, the largest living animal on earth has no jaw which does not allow it to be at the top of this ranking. The case of the sperm whale may seem more promising because it is the largest predator with teeth on the planet but it has teeth only on the lower jaw and it tends to swallow only pieces of soft squid. Meanwhile, the human is not so badly placed with a bite force estimated at an average of 42kg / cm2. It is not easy to know the marine animal that has the most powerful jaw in the world. To establish and discover the exact ranking, follow the guide:
10. Black piranha
32kg/cm2
This South American fish lives in the basins of the Amazon, in the rivers of the north and east of the Guiana shelf, and in those in northeastern Brazil. With a maximum size of 50 cm and a weight of 3 to 4 kg, this fish has a surprising feature: the muscles of its jaw are disproportionate to its size, which allows the black piranha to have a bite force equivalent to 30 times of its body weight. It’s a feat unmatched in the animal world. Compared to its size, piranhas even surpass prehistoric monsters such as Tyrannosaurus rex or megalodon.
9. Great white shark
303kg / cm2
As for the sharks, the great white shark is placed at the top of the hierarchy beyond its congeners Tiger shark 23kg/cm2, Silky shark: 88.9kg/cm2, Bulldog shark- 90kg/cm2, Nurse shark 294kg/cm2. Sharks have a flexible cartilage jaw that is the most powerful among fish. But the great whites do not necessarily need a very strong jaw since most of the damage to their prey is due to their 300 blade-like teeth that pierce the flesh as if it was butter. The great white shark certainly has one of the most powerful bites on the planet.
8. Walrus
130kg / cm2
This large marine mammal that can weigh more than 2 tons, is a regular in cold regions. It is very recognizable by its tusks compared to its neighbors: seals and sea lions as well as its thick mustaches and its massive stance.
7. Hippopotamus
180kg / cm2
The Hippopotamus is a semi-aquatic mammal that lives in rivers, lakes and mangrove swamps. The males are very territorial and aggressively defend their portion of the river if an intruder dares to enter. Hippos have very strong jaw muscles due to very large tendons. Although they are herbivorous and their teeth are less sharp than those of most carnivores, they have a very powerful bite that they sometimes use against their neighbors: the crocodiles.
6. Alligator
300 kg / cm2
The jaw of the alligator is wider and rounder than the jaw of crocodiles which does not allow it to better concentrate the pressure in his bites. Alligators feed by grabbing their prey and drowning them. They developed sharp teeth to hang and tear flesh.
5. Humboldt squid
450kg / cm²
Also called giant squid or devil of the depths, this species of squid can reach 4 meters long and weigh up to 100 kilos. To feed, the Humbolt squid uses its eight tentacles armed with powerful suction cups to immobilize prey and carry them to the mouth where they are crushed by a powerful “parrot’s beak”. This species of squid has no internal skeleton, no external skeleton and its parrot beak is simply attached by powerful muscles to the mouth.
4. Alligator snapping turtle
455kg / cm²
This endemic species of the United States has a very particular morphology with a characteristic beak with a mobile appendage serving as a decoy on the upper jaw. Some specimens may weigh more than 100 kg for a length of between 65 and 75 cm. The alligator-snapping turtle has a very powerful jaw considered potentially dangerous since some people have had their fingers cut when handling a few specimens.
3. Killer whale
1000kg / cm2
The killer whale is naturally at the top of the ranking as it hunts and devours the largest mammals on earth: whales. Despite their name, killer whales are, in reality, dolphins up to 9.5 m long with 50 extremely sharp conical teeth. The bite of a killer whale allows it to easily tear the flesh of his prey.
2. Nile Crocodile
Average of 1113kg / cm2
Crocodiles have a jaw muscle and anatomy of relatively small teeth, like alligators, but their heads are thinner and sharper. These particular characteristics make them possess one of the strongest bites ever measured on live animals. Surprisingly, crocodiles have a low jaw opening force compared to the powerful closing force.
1. Saltwater crocodile
Average of 1766kg / cm2
The extraordinary bite of crocodilians is explained by their anatomy. The space reserved for the jaw muscles in the skull is very large which is easily visible from the outside in the form of a bulge on each side. The nature of the muscle is extremely stiff, almost as hard as bone, so one might think that it is an extension of the skull. Another feature is that most jaw muscles of a crocodile are designed to be tight. Despite the strength of the muscles to close the jaw, crocodiles have extremely small and weak muscles to open the jaw. With these characteristics, saltwater crocodile has the strongest bite of the animal kingdom ever recorded. This species is today, with the crocodile of the Nile, the largest crocodile species and it is also the heaviest living reptile in the world.
For the record, a long time ago, some species far exceeded these numbers or statistics like the Megalodon whose average bite power reached more than 3000kg / cm2.
