Crocodiles have supposedly the strongest bite force of any animal, around 3700 psi, or 16500 newtons, compared to humans at around 150 psi or lions at 1000 psi.
A lion is known to be able to break bones in its prey with the force of its bite, and even humans can break their own teeth biting into something hard.
How does the force exerted by the bite not cause the muscles/tendons in the croc’s mouth to tear, or the bones of the jaw to break?
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Because the things they are biting give way first.
If a crocodile were to bite down on a big piece of concrete with its full bite force, it absolutely could break its own jaw with its own strength. And that is not unique to crocodiles, because the same is true even of human beings and our comparatively much weaker jaws.
That is a part of why animals like sharks will do test bites where they do not fully bite down with too much pressure.
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Jaw is a lever. Same reason if you lift a 500lb rock with a lever your hand doesn’t feel 500lbs of pressure.
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is jaw strength really measured by pressure? like average pressure or peak pressure? Surely the innermost teeth can produce a higher pressure than the outmost on a crocodile etc. The jaw is basically a lever.
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