- Who
- Black piranha, Serrasalmus rhombeus
- What
- 320.27 newton(s)
- Where
- Not Applicable ()
The living animal with the strongest bite relative to body size is the black piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus) of South America. One specimen with a mass of 1.12 kg ( 2 lb 7.5 oz) and 36.8 cm (1 ft 2 in) in total length registered a peak bite force of 320.27 Newtons. That works out to 32.63 kgf (71.9 lbf), meaning it could crunch down with 29 times the force of its own weight. The best power-to-weight ratio recorded in the same study was for a piranha measuring 29.5 cm (11.6 in) in length and weighing 600 grams (1 lb 5 oz); it could bite down with a force of 235.76 N (24.04 kgf; 52.9 lbf), or 40 times its weight. In either case, it means that relative to body size this species' bite is even more powerful than prehistory's Tyrannosaurus rex and the giant prehistoric megalodon shark. Moreover, its bite is nearly three times stronger than that of an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) of comparable body size to itself.
In order to produce such an incredibly powerful bite, the jaw muscles of the black piranha are disproportionately huge. Indeed, they account for more than 2% of this species' total body mass. In science, force is generally measured in Newtons, and 1 Newton is defined as the force required to move 1 kg of mass at 1 m per second squared.
Estimates of 53,735 Newtons have been postulated for the bite force of the T. rex, which may be the most powerful bite in an animal ever.
