Ancient predator had strongest bite of any fish, rivaling bite of large alligators and T. rex

November 29th, 2006 · 1 Comment

The fish with the most powerful jaws in history
Mark Henderson, Science Editor
Graphic: fangs and forces

A prehistoric Jaws that terrorised the oceans 400 million years ago had the most powerful bite of any creature yet known, scientists have discovered.

The ancient sea monster, known as Dunkleosteus terrelli, could bring its fangs together with a force of almost 5,000kg (11,000lb), making it almost four times more powerful than Tyrannosaurus rex.

Its jaws were arranged so that the bite force would have been focused into a small area around the tip of its front fangs, producing a remarkable pressure of 5,600 kg per sq cm (80,000lb per sq in).

The pressure generated by a 10st (63kg) woman standing on her husband’s toe while wearing a stiletto heel of 0.5cm area would be about 127 kg/sq cm, or 1,800 lb/sq in.

The fearsome fish, which grew up to 10m (33ft) long and weighed up to four tonnes, would have been able to tear a shark in two with just a single bite.

It was also able to eat prey substantially larger than its own mouth.

“Dunkleosteus was able to devour anything in its environment,” said Philip Anderson, of the University of Chicago, who led the research.

D. terrelli has been known for years to have been one of the top aquatic predators of the Devonian period, an era that predates the dinosaurs and stretched from 415 million to 360 million years ago.

New analysis of the creature’s fossilised skull has now disclosed that it had the most powerful bite on record.

Just how big is the bite?