I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wondered what I would do if I was ever being chased by a crocodile. At a young age I learned that you should always run zig zag, because that slows the beast down. Good advice right? Well, what if the crocodile still catches up to you? Don’t say your prayers yet. If your crocodile is relatively small, but just looks like it would have a nasty bite because of the way it’s teeth look, you may be in the clear!

Photo Credit: Ramy Alaa

A recent article explains that the the size, shape, and look of jaws is not an accurate barometer of how hard that particular crocodile will bite. For years, scientists believed that evolution created crocodiles with jaws that are broader so that their bite is also very strong. Reversely, crocodiles with a jaw that looks somewhat delicate would have a low bite force. Now scientists know that teeth and jaws evolve completely separately to that of bite force. In fact, the only variable that affects the bite force a crocodile will have is the size of the animal.

To give some perspective, the average crocodile now has a bite force of approximately 2,000 pounds. In his study, Dr. Erickson discovered that a crocodile alive at the same time of the dinosaurs had a bite force of 23,000 pounds. This bite force is greater than what a T-Rex would have had!

In order to fully test his theory that only size of the animal is related to bite force, Dr. Erickson invented a device that measures the bite force of a crocodile as the animal is crunching down on the metal padded rod. Using this device, Dr. Erickson was able to measure the bite force’s of all 23 species of crocodilians. The results were surprising. Instead of jaw size and shape, the only correlation to bite force came from the size of the animal.

I encourage you to think about an escape plan if you are ever faced with a crocodile. Whether or not their bite force is considered strong or not, most likely it could still severely injure you. I suggest running away, even if the crocodile looks like it’s bite force is less than 1000 pounds. Trust me. What do you think about this recent finding? Common sense? Or did you assume that jaw shape played a part in how hard a crocodile could bite, as well?