"SuperCroc" And Bite Strength

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/03/020328073615.htm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Picture the jaws of a 12-foot alligator clamping down
on its prey. Now think of the jolt one would feel by tying a rope to a
small pickup truck and trying to hold on after dropping it from the roof
of a tall building.

What's the point? Well, a Florida State University researcher has
discovered that the strength of the alligator's bite and the jolt one
would feel when the truck reached the end of its rope are nearly
identical.
...
(FSU biology Professor Greg) Erickson, an expert in the dentition of
crocodilians and dinosaurs, was exploring ways to fund a study into how
hard crocodiles bite when a filmmaker asked him last year about doing the
research for a show on the so-called SuperCroc, a monster crocodilian that
lived 110 million years ago. No one had ever accurately measured the
biting strength of crocodiles, and Erickson convinced the National
Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration to fund the
study. His research was featured on the National Geographic special
"SuperCroc," which aired last December.
...
To get an idea of how the giant crocodilian could hold a struggling
dinosaur in its jaws, Erickson and University of Florida zoologist Kent
Vliet traveled to the St.  Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park
with a 7-foot-long bite-force measuring pole built by engineers. The farm
is the only place on Earth where at least one of every living species of
alligator and crocodile can be found.
...
After eight days and testing 60 subjects, Erickson and Vliet recorded a
bite with 2,125 pounds of force from a 665-pound, 12-foot American
alligator. That's a force equal to the weight of a small pickup truck. The
biting force of smaller alligators and crocodiles were basically
proportional to their size, thus Erickson and Vliet estimated that
SuperCroc had about 18,000 pounds of force to hold on to its prey, or
about eight and one-half times the force of the 12-foot alligator's bite.

That complete, Erickson and Vliet are about to take their research into a
new, and equally dangerous, phase. Late next month they plan to travel to
the rivers and lakes of Central Florida to see if the bites of wild
alligators are stronger than those in captivity.



18,000 pounds of force? Wow.