Does it Bite? Yes! Animals Ranked by Strength of Their Bite (Part I)

I’m going to talk about the top animals with the strongest bites ever recorded based on what I found on the internet. The information is interesting on its own, but when you also look at how these animals are built, and how their “bones” and muscles look, it might give an interesting perspective on why they are the way they are. I’ll go from (relatively) weakest to strongest.

It is important to note that the size of the teeth are not necessarily a good indicator of how powerful an animal's bite force. For example, below this is a mandrill skull. Look at the canines on that bad boy! And yes, it is a "boy" mandrill. Male mandrills have significantly longer canines compared to females (see the image below). This is an example of sexual dimorphism.

Male mandrill skull. Note the size of the canines. Still, not in the top 10 (or possibly even top 20) animals with the strongest bite force ever recorded.

Female mandrill skull. They do have canines, but they are really tiny in comparison to their male counterparts. This is an interesting example of sexual dimporphism.

Some of the animals in this list are endangered or threatened for various reasons. I love animals, and I find them fascinating no matter how cute and cuddly, or vicious and terrifying they can be. So, as human beings, we need to get our act together, and not push them into extinction. OK? Alright! On with the list.

Human – 150 psi

As human beings, we don’t have very strong bites compared to the heavy biters further down the list. I’m a dentist, and have been bitten by a patient before. He was an adorable little kid, but damn that hurt! In spite of that, we are not #1. Oh! Not by a long shot! I'm mentioning human bite force for the sake of comparison.

The strongest muscle in the human body is the masseter. It connects the lower jaw with the skull at the cheekbone . It’s not the biggest, but it is most definitely the strongest muscle for its size. Others that move the jaw and help in the biting motion are the temporalis and medial pterygoid. The lateral pterygoid mainly moves the mandible forward and helps with opening wider.

Left: The masseter connects the angle of the lower jaw with the back of the cheek bone (an area called the "zygomatic arch") You can see this muscle move when someone clenches their teeth hard. Right: The temporalis is a bit weeker. It connects the upper tip of the lower jaw (or coronoid process) with the side of the head. You see this muscle move at the temple when someone is talking or chewing.

As for the teeth, human beings usually have 32 adult teeth (they include 4 wisdom teeth, but not everyone has wisdom teeth, and these very lucky people only have 28 teeth). In jaw, there are 4 incisors, 2 canines, 4 premolars, and 6 molars. Other animals might have far more or far less. Of course, the shape of the teeth can affect the pressure exerted by a bite. As you will later see, things will get more and more interesting as we go further down the list.

This diagram illustrates the different classes of teeth most adults have. Different animals have different numbers of teeth of each class.

There are 2 factors that most determine the strength of a bite:

1. The strength of the jaw muscles (especially the masseter), and

2. The sharpness of the teeth.

Unsurprisingly, there are no birds on this list. Don’t get me wrong, birds can be badass, but as far as bite strength, they’re not so good. There are also animals that you might expect to be on the list that are not. It’s not that they don’t have strong bites; they do. However, they are not in the top 10 highest recorded. An important disclaimer: This is based on recorded bite strengths that I found online. There may be new or different data out there that could change the order of the animals mentioned. The important thing here is to appreciate the sheer numbers, and not focus too much on the order of these entrees.

10. Hyena – 1,100 psi

Don't be fooled by their demeanor. They have a serious set of chompers.

Hyenas have one of the strongest bites at 1,100 psi. Surprisingly, that is stronger than anything recorded in a tiger (1,050 psi) or a lion (560 psi)! Not only do they have very strong jaw muscles, but their back teeth are uniquely large and very sharp. The skulls of tigers and lions are similar, but their back teeth are relatively much smaller compared to those of a hyena. Hyena’s are known to be able to break bones and be able to digest them. They are often scavengers after all, and they need to be able to consume the parts of a carcass that the other carnivores might leave behind, like bones. Just don’t get bitten by one of those, or any other animal mentioned in this take.

9. Grizzly Bear – 1,160 psi

If there's one lesson I've learned from "the Revenant" is to never get between a mama bear and her cubs. She will seriously f!@#... you... up.

Grizzlies are big. That is an understatement. Bears generally, and ones in the same class size as grizzly bears especially rely on sheer strength, and larger species truly exploit their massive size. No wonder it made it to the top 10. They are massive, very powerful, and incredibly fast. They are the 2nd largest bear species. Interestingly, they are omnivorous, and meat makes up only 10% of their diet.

Bears are very muscular. If you look at the cheek muscle (or masseter) you notice how round and bulky it looks. Like in the case of humans, the masseter is likely the strongest muscle in the entire body for bears as well. Factor in the sheer size, and you can understand why it ranks so high for strongest bite.

When examining a grizzly bear’s skull, when you look at the back of the lower jaw (the angle of the mandible), there is a deep fossa where a massive masseter muscle would be.

In the lower left corner, the masseteric fossa is where you would find the masseter muscle, which is responsible for the strong bite function. The fossa is so deep because the masseter in bears is so bulky, the jaw bone is more sunken in to accommodate its sheer size.

8. Polar Bear – 1,200 psi

Aren't they so cute and lovable?! If you ever see one of these eating a seal, you might beg to differ, but I still love polar bears though.

Everything I said about grizzlies earlier, just apply them to polar bears, except, they are even bigger. Polar bears are the largest bear species today. They are obligate carnivores, where 90% of their diet consists of meat. It’s anatomy is very, very similar to that of a grizzly (see above entry).

Comparison between polar bears and grizzly bears

7. Gorilla – 1,300 psi

Does it Bite? Yes! Animals Ranked by Strength of Their Bite (Part I)

Representing the great apes in this list is the gorilla. Their anatomy is somewhat similar to ours. However, by looking at a gorilla’s skull, you notice how large the lower jaw is, and the sheer size of the canines. Each canine has a space next to it to accommodate the overlapping canine on the opposing arch. This space is known as a “diastema” (basically, what you call a gap between two teeth). As human beings, we usually have the same kind of gaps when we have our baby teeth and it is known as the “primate space”. They eventually go away when we lose these teeth and our adult teeth come through.

Left: Male gorilla skull; Right: female gorilla skull. This is an example of sexual dimorphism. Male gorillas have larger skulls, larger teeth, longer canines, and significantly larger muscles than their female counterparts. Male gorillas also have a sagital crest on the top of the skull, and the lower back angle of the jaw has these "flaps" which form the masseteric fossa. The reason why there's a big masseteric fossa and a sagital crest is that this is where their massive masseter and temporalis muscles attach. Baby gorillas (male or female) don't have muscles that are developed as much, and their skulls look more like those of human beings.

Otherwise, gorillas have the same number of teeth that we have. Make no mistake however, they are herbivores. They don’t normally eat meat. Aside from snacking on termites and small insects, the rest of their diet is completely plant-based.

Male gorillas particularly have significantly longer canines, larger jaw bones, and they have a big sagittal crest on the top of the skull. I believe that the sagittal crest is there because they have very powerful temporalis muscles in addition to powerful masseter muscles. For us human beings (and female gorillas), our temporalis is very weak in comparison.

6. Bull Shark – 1,350 psi

*ominous Jaws cello music* dun dun... dun dun... dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun... DUNNANA!!!

Finally! Jaws has arrived (except, it’s not a great white). The Bull shark is not the biggest shark, but it has the strongest bite among all sharks. Interesting fact: sharks don’t have bones. They only have cartilage where we have bones. Their anatomy is so different, from ours. They have various muscles that control the jaws, but I find their teeth to be most interesting. First, they don’t have roots like us mammals. They constantly shed their teeth, and they get replaced in rows throughout the shark’s life. Their teeth are both sharp and serrated. That contributes to the pressure exerted by the shark when it chomps down. The lesson here: Don’t stick your hand in a shark’s mouth, especially if it is a bull shark. Capiche?

Bull shark tooth. They are sharp, pointy, and serrated

Shark anatomy showing what the jaw muscles look like. Notice, the skeleton in sharks is made up of cartilage, as they have no bones at all. Who needs bones anyway? Not if you're a shark.

5. Jaguar – 1,500 psi

Jaguars are the big cats with the highest bite force. Theirs are a bit stronger than those of lions and tigers because of how their muscles are arranged and relative jaw dimentions. It’s all about the physics in this case, which leads to increased torque. That is necessary because jaguars love to hunt in the water, and reptiles such as crocodiles and turtles are a big part of their diet. Of course, this is an adaptation particular to them. Lions for example, hunt in groups, while tigers rely on sheer strength (being the largest cats today). Otherwise, their anatomy and physiology are very similar.

For the top contenders, see: Does it Bite? Yes! Animals Ranked by Strength of Their Bite (Part II)