Anyone who\u2019s been on the receiving end of a toddler or puppy chomp might argue that it\u00a0feels\u00a0like the strongest bite ever, but which animal really has the most powerful bite of them all?<\/p>\n
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The animal with the strongest bite ever documented in scientific literature is the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), recorded during a 2012 study<\/a> of the bite forces of all 23 living crocodilians \u2013 the group that includes the true crocodiles, alligators, caimans, gharials, and false gharials.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, many of them were capable of pretty forceful chomps, but none of them came even remotely close to the bite of one particular saltwater croc<\/a>, who came out on top with a bite force of 16,414 Newtons (N).\u00a0<\/p>\n If you need a frame of reference for just how powerful that is, it takes around 4,000 N<\/a> to break a human femur, one of the strongest bones in the body. That means that, in the unlucky circumstance that a leg ends up in the jaws of a saltwater crocodile, best believe the reptile could make light work of it.<\/p>\n Are there other contenders?<\/p>\n If we search outside of the scientific literature, the Nile crocodile comes up as another possible contender for the animal with the strongest bite. In an episode of National Geographic\u2019s Dangerous\u00a0Encounters<\/a>, for example, herpetologist Dr Brady Barr recorded a Nile crocodile chomping down with a force of 5,000 psi, or around 22,000 N.\u00a0<\/p>\n Great white sharks<\/a> could be thrown into the mix too, based on a 2008 modeling study<\/a> that estimated the fish\u2019s maximum bite force by digitally reconstructing its jaws. From this, they predicted that a 6.4-meter, 3.3-tonne great white could produce a bite force of 18,216 N using its back teeth.\u00a0<\/p>\n That would put it far above both the saltwater and Nile crocs, although if we start bringing extinct species into the fold, 18,000 N seems like a gentle nibble compared to the estimated 108,514 to 182,201 N<\/a> bite of Megalodon. Let\u2019s be glad they\u2019re definitely not still out there<\/a>.<\/p>\n