• Ma10gan@slrpnk.net
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    1 month ago

    So Isaac Newton had only 1/700th the bite force of a normal human? Pathetic.

  • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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    1 month ago

    Every time I picture an alligator biting me I’m like I bet I could wiggle out or like somehow overcome it, because their jaws look so long and flat - like how much strength could they have? Certainly not more than a lion.

    Well.

    • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 month ago

      The closing force is significantly higher than its opening force IIRC. If you can close its mouth without getting bitten it’s screwed.

    • Mothra@mander.xyz
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      1 month ago

      Just remember these guys can grip an animal the size of a horse with their jaws, overpower it, drag it to the water and rip it apart.

    • Che Banana@beehaw.org
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      1 month ago

      Salt water Crocs are not tiny. Some alligators are on the smallish side comparatively, but there are big gators out there too.

      • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 month ago

        Crocodiles are also one of those rare animals that don’t “age” in the traditional sense. Once they reach adulthood, they continue to get larger and larger until they eventually starve or their organs collapse under their own body weight. They don’t lose muscle mass or bone density or any of the usual issues we attribute to getting older.

        Imagine having the build of a 25 year old at 100 and being 7+ft tall. That’s how crocodiles age.

      • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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        1 month ago

        Yeah I’ve never seen one in real life, so I feel like like I’m not grokking the sense of scale.

        Kind of like seeing a horse or moose for the first time (guess my hemisphere lol).

    • moonlight@fedia.io
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      1 month ago

      I bet this is peak force is measured at the base of the jaw, meaning the teeth at the tip would exert significantly lower force. So it might be possible to escape a small alligator, I’m not sure.

  • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    I got a bone to pick with this kind of diagram. Everyone likes to talk about how much better other animals are at things than us, but if you look at animals holistically, humans are really fuckin good at everything. Like yeah there’s a bunch of animals that are faster than us, a bunch of animals that bites stronger than us, a bunch of animals that are more muscular than us, but we’re consistently in like the top 10% overall

    Finna make a version of this meme where it’s mice and iguanas

    • Zess@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      We also have better full-light vision than a lot of animals, even the ones with good dark vision.

      • lenuup@reddthat.com
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        1 month ago

        And we have better night vision than most the animals that have better day-vision than us. Humans are like the Leatherman of animals. Universally capable of doing most things but not as good as something specialized for that task. Plus of course capable of coming up with ways to cheat

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 month ago

      Also like, we aren’t cursed to a life of suffering and early death if something takes a bite out of our leg, we can patch it up and get assistance from those around us to still live a good life.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Hell yeah, that’s what sets humans and non-humans apart: if part of our pack can’t survive on their own, we take on the burden of surviving for them. No other animal can survive a broken femur like humans can, and it’s not because we have some incredible healing factor. Whenever I’m on the verge of feeling despair, I think about that 15,000 year old broken femur

        • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          We CAN do that. Whether we choose to as a society, is far more up in the air, unfortunately.

    • jumjummy@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Don’t forget about the human ability to literally chase an animal until it collapses with exhaustion. Humans are literally the monster from It Follows.

    • TriflingToad@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      compared to body mass lizards probably have us beat there too. I remember catching a lizard when I was little then running around the yard screaming because it latched onto my finger
      It didn’t even hurt, I was just scared

  • isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 month ago

    Given:

    Bite Force of T. rex: 45,000 Newtons

    Jaw Closing Distance: Approximately 0.3 meters

    Energy=Force×Distance=45,000N×0.3m=13,500Joules

    Say we have a typical 10w led lightbulb, how much could it power it for?

    Time= Power/Energy=13,500J / 10W=1,350 seconds, or approximately 22 and a half minutes with a single T-Rex chomp, assuming 100% conversion efficiency

    • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
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      1 month ago

      Fun fact, the (rough) conversion efficiency of calories to mechanical joules in the human body (separate from the mechanical to electrical you’re referring to) is about 25% — but this is about the same factor as going from calories to joules! So, for a human to put out 13.5 kJ of energy would require about 13.5 food calories (kilocalories).

  • Potatisen@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    To break the largest human bone, the thigh bone, an estimated force of 4,000 newtons is needed. However, the amount of force required to break a bone depends on how the force is applied.

    -Random internet source

  • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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    1 month ago

    How is this calculated? Presumably you could directly measure all but the T-Rex and pliosaur, but how are those bits forces calculated?

    • MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      I’m no BiteForceologist but I was assume they compare muscle size, muscle attachment points, and mechanical advantage of extant creatures and then apply that data to fossils. So not 100% accurate, but not just guessing randomly.

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      For the extant creatures you give them something they want to bite on and stick a measurement thing inside of that.

      For extinct creatures see other comment. You compare anatomy and do math.

  • huquad@lemmy.ml
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    1 month ago

    Bite pressure would be a more interesting comparison IMO. Of course a Trex is gonna have a massive bite force because it’s dominated by size.

    • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      It’s also got some trick jaws, it’s not 100% from size alone. Like dunkleosteus, which had a novel jaw that amplified the force.

      • huquad@lemmy.ml
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        1 month ago

        Fair enough, from my very limited research (Chicago museum has an exhibit about this exact thing), some animals use a 4-bar linkage to maximize force. I think Trex was among them.

    • PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 month ago

      We are omnivores and do a lot of chewing. Dogs don’t really chew, just rip.

      Some great apes that have more raw plants in their diet even have a bony ridge on their skull that the jaw muscles attach to.

      Our jaws actually have great leverage, our molars are very close to where the jaw muscle attaches.

    • Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Not all dogs are the same, of course. Some dog breeds can bite harder than wolves. We selectively bred them for chomp strength.