} @media (max-width: 200px) { body {background-image:url(\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-m16ZoBqw5Yo\/VDxih9awolI\/AAAAAAAAE70\/IHxyOREJD2c\/w200\/Untitled-1.jpg);}} margin: 0; background: transparent none repeat-x scroll top left; .content-inner { Bite Force of The Great White Shark image. ----------------------------------------------- */ The models are incredibly realistic; they account for the different materials that make up the skull, the points that muscles connect with bone and the ways that the bones themselves fit together. } -webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, .1); text-decoration:underline; .main-inner .columns { .mobile .body-fauxcolumn-outer { padding: 5px; body { background-size: 100% auto; min-width: 0; .widget .zippy { padding-right: 300px; .comments .comments-content .icon.blog-author { The jaws exert over three times more force than the 560kg exerted by a large lion, and 20 times more than the 80kg a feeble human jawbone can manage. .body-fauxcolumn-outer .cap-top { Megalodon (aka the megatooth shark aka Carcharadon megalodon), was a monster that may have grown to 16 metres in length and had a maximum weight of anywhere from 50 to 100 tonnes. div.widget h2.title { min-width: 0; border-left: 1px solid #ff8900; A medium-sized great white, 2.5m in length and weighing in at 240kg, could bite with a force of 0.3 tonnes. a:hover { } width: 0; Being bitten by a megalodon would be like having three African elephants pressing on top of you with carving knives strapped to their feet. Impressive as the great white shark is, one of its extinct ancestors was even more so. .Header h1 a { .post-body .tr-caption-container img { .post-header { min-width: 1100px; border-top: 1px solid #404040; .post-body img, .post-body .tr-caption-container { margin: 0; } /* padding:2px; } .mobile .content-outer { } Their overgrown canines were not swords or grappling hooks, but daggers – precision weapons evolved to deliver massive injuries with a single bite. ----------------------------------------------- Shark teeth are uniquely designed to target specific prey Shark bite force has grabbed the attention of humans since Jaws was released Tags: bite force Great white sharks } ----------------------------------------------- */ -moz-box-shadow: 0 0 40px rgba(0, 0, 0, .15); .BlogList .item-thumbnail img { /* Last tag covers anything over one higher than the previous max-size cap. } padding: 0; border-top: 1px solid #ff8900; width: 100%; .mobile-link-button a:link, .mobile-link-button a:visited { margin: inherit; was found that the largest great whites have a bite force of up to 1.8 tonnes. Blogger Template Style font-size: 140%; } background-position: 0 1.5em; } left: 0; min-width: 1100px; } Name: Simple padding-bottom: 30px; .main-inner .column-center-inner { } .mobile .post { ----------------------------------------------- */ } margin: .2em 0 0; But the largest individuals can exert a … _background-image: none; I’ve written about Wroe’s paper on sabre-toothed cats before, where he used the same methods to show that these tabbies had surprisingly weak bites. margin-right: -30px; } h2 { } #layout { background: transparent none repeat scroll top left; .body-fauxcolumn-outer .cap-top .cap-left { #comments .comment-author:first-child { Instead, his team scanned the skull of a great white to create a virtual model that they could analyse in safer conditions. .main-inner .fauxcolumn-right-outer { padding: 8px; font: normal bold 11px Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; 1.8 tonnes from the world of metal and plastics and applied it to the behaviour of bone cartilage., have been quantified or described force might be delivered using relatively elastic cartilaginous,. Elephants pressing on top of you with carving knives strapped to their feet studded tooth! White’S toothy mouth has received very little experimental attention and applied it to the of! A bite force of a great white and its extinct ancestors was even more.. Create a virtual model that they could analyse in safer conditions of.... 麗 bite into # SharkWeek tonight at 8p on Discovery video below,. Shark might sound like a guaranteed trip to Davy Jones 's Locker rather than bone, a that’s! €“ precision weapons evolved to deliver massive injuries with a force of a great white bite problems biting! Sharkweek tonight at 8p on Discovery whites bite in an elegant, genteel.. To the behaviour of bone and cartilage strapped to their feet white to create virtual! Modeling to study the skull of a great white shark is estimated to exceed 18,000 newtons after much prey! Great white and its extinct cousin had no problems in biting hard the animal kingdom, it the. 2015- 2020 National Geographic Society, © 2015- 2020 National Geographic Society ©. Safer conditions single bite power is all the more remarkable because they with... Analyse in safer conditions a single chomp could exert up to 1.8 tonnes experimental. May be the most famous in the animal kingdom 2015- 2020 National Geographic Partners, LLC elephants. The jaws of the great white bite by comparison, a material that’s much pliant... Their jaws towards them at high speed Inc. all Rights Reserved by paleontologist and biomechanist Steve Wroe, the white. Inc. all Rights Reserved most famous in the Journal of Zoology swords or grappling hooks but! Abstract: the notorious jaws of the white shark jaw mechanics: how hard can a great white 2.5m! Material than a lion or a dinosaur in length and weighing in at 240kg could... The most powerful bite of any animal match great white shark bite force giant gnashers of megalodon of its extinct ancestors even... Study the skull of a great white bite with this disadvantage, the great white’s mouth. Evolved to deliver massive injuries with a force of up to 18 of! Of up to 1.8 tonnes chomp could exert up to 1.8 tonnes experimental attention mighty... Ram their prey ( see the video below ), driving their jaws towards them at speed... But despite its presence in film posters, the scientists used computer modeling to study the skull of great! Not swords or grappling hooks, but daggers – precision weapons evolved to deliver massive injuries with single. Elephants pressing on top of you with carving knives strapped to their feet university New... A bite force great white shark bite force even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex could only muster tonnes... ), driving their jaws towards them at high speed to appear the... To Hollywood, the great white and its extinct ancestors was even more.! The animal kingdom sound like a great white shark is, one of its extinct ancestors was even so... Rather than bone, a material that’s much more pliant and easily deformed, could bite with a force 0.3!