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Crocodilian Bite Forces -->

Press Release Quotes (MS Word document)





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Graphic: by Ken Womble/Gregory Erickson, FSU

It depicts how average adult bite forces increase with body size, show little correlation with snout types (proxies for jaw strength and diet), and alligators and crocs have the same capacity for bite force generation. The tight relationship with size allowed us to estimate bite forces in the past. E.g. for the largest known fossil crocodilians such as Deinosuchus (shown here next to a human).


Erickson measuring an Alligator's bite force

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Photo by: Gregory M Erickson