Not all animals are cute and cuddly. Some have scales and creepy mandibles, others are weird and ugly, but the vast majority of all the critters on the planet use their “mouths” to feed. Be it soft grass or hard bones, the food must be chewed, and that’s where the strength of the bite comes in. The pressure that is being exerted is calculated in pounds per square inch or PSI in short. And just to give you a base line, an average human’s bite varies from 100 to 150 pounds (with 250 PSI being the strongest recorded bite).
So let’s see if these 20 animals really can bite off more than they can chew!
20. Cougar PSI: 350
House cats (at least my fluffballs) are terrible at biting, but their cousins – cougars, with their powerful jaw, can crush bones and skulls of its prey with ease.
19. Grey Wolf PSI: 406
Although not nearly as strong as Hyenas, wolves can also gnaw on the bones of their lunch with a relative expertise.
18. Domestic Dogs
I’ll just list the top 4 strongest breeds:
Mastiff PSI: 556
Rottweiler PSI: 328
German Shepherd PSI: 238
American Pitbull with PSI: 235
17. Great White Shark PSI: 669
Are you surprised that the Great White Shark is so far down the list? I know I am. But what it lacks in pressure, it makes up for in the size of its jaw and the sharpness of its knife-like teeth.
16. African Lion PSI: 691
The bigger the cat, the stronger its bite, right? Not exactly. Turns out Lions are really bad at biting. I wouldn’t play around with a hungry Lion.
15. Jaguar PSI: 700
Marginally stronger than lions, Jaguars are even more lethal predators than the King of the animals.
14. Brown Bear PSI: 850
As you may already know, brown bears are insanely strong as are their bites.
13. Kodiak Bear PSI: 930
The Kodiak bear is just a more strong version of the brown bear.
12. Siberian Tiger PSI: 950
Here’s another kitty on this list – the Siberian Tiger. Everything about these majestic creatures exudes strength and awe. But wait, we have one more feline to go.
11. Alligator Snapping Turtle PSI: 1004
Snapping Turtle got its name for being able to bite off anything close enough to its toothless mouth, like someone’s finger, for example.
10. Bengal Tiger PSI: 1050
I’m just glad that a big cat landed in the top 10.
9. Hyena PSI: 1100
Hyenas are absolute beasts when it comes to biting. When a pack of these fellas has lunch together, even the bones are being shredded into dust.
8. Polar Bear PSI: 1235
Polar bears have ten times stronger bite than a regular human. Just let that sink in.
7. Grizzly Bear PSI: 1250
Somehow grizzly bears are a tiny bit more powerful than their northern brethren.
6. Bull Shark PSI: 1250
A bite from this shark will hurt like hell!
5. Silverback Gorilla PSI: 1300
I would have never expected a gorilla to be in the top 5. But here we are!
4. Hippopotamus PSI: 1821
Hippos may seem like very cute animals from children’s books, but not only can they open their mouth at a 180-degree angle they also have an enormous ferocious bite force.
3. American Alligator PSI: 2125
Spoiler alert: all top 3 candidates are very similar but oh so different at the same time. And at 2125 PSI we have the American Alligator.
2. Nile Crocodile PSI: 5000
Doubling the American Alligator’s PSI, this killer Crocodile can shut its mouth like it’s no-one’s business, but opening it is the biggest problem.
1. Saltwater Crocodile PSI: 7700
And #1 – the Saltwater Crocodile! Some scientists speculate that their bite force is comparable to that of T. Rex’s. Yikes!
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