Think you've got strong teeth?
A new study out of Florida State University shows that a Tyrannosaurus Rex was the real "jaws" of its time. FSU professor Greg Erickson says they used computer models to discover that T-Rex had the jaw strength to crush 8,000 pounds. Research also showed their long teeth could generate more than 430,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.
These numbers for than double the bite force of the largest, living crocodiles — today’s bite force champions.
This power allowed T-Rex to drive open cracks in the bones of its prey using repetitive biting. The tremendous force would lead to catastrophic explosions of some bones.
Researchers built their modeling off of living crocodiles, which are the closest, modern relatives to dinosaurs. They then compared the results with birds, which are modern-day dinosaurs, and generated a model for T-Rex.
In current day, "bone crunchers" like spotted hyenas and gray wolves have occluding teeth used to finely fragment long bones for access to the marrow inside.
Tyrannosaurus Rex appears to be unique among reptiles for achieving this mammal-like ability without specialized, occluding dentition.
Think of how hard you tired to break as a kid to break a jaw breaker candy. T-Rex probably ate through those more quickly than we "chew" through mashed potatoes!