A Whale of a Bite
An ancient whale might have had among the strongest bites of any animal in history.
A whale that lived 35 million years ago had a bite force that rivals the biggest biters today, including salt water crocodiles and Great White Sharks.
Fossils of the 15-metre-long whale, Basilosaurus isis - including its metre-long skull - were scanned and modelled by Dr. Eric Snively, a Canadian Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.
The skull of Basilosaurus had an unusually large area for jaw muscles to expand. This gave the whale a bite that was powerful, with both front and back teeth - strong enough to crush bones, including those of other whales.
Related Links
- Paper in PLoS One
- University of Wisconsin, La Crosse release
- The Integrative Paleontologists blog