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Ancient fish Dunkleosteus Delivered A Bite More Powerfuls Than Sharks

Dunkleosteus ruled the waters of the Devonian Period around 400 million years ago, as it was 10 meters long and weighed 3.6 tonnes. Dunkleosteus had two blades which he used as teeth.

Scientists at the Field Museum in Chicago and the University of Chicago found out that Dunkleosteus's bite was the most feared (with a force equaling 11000lbs or 5000kg), delivered by its incredibly powerful jaws.

The biting force reached a peak point of 80000lbs or 36000kg per square inch, turning it into the most feared fish of all times, with an even more gruesome bite than sharks.

Mark Westneat, curator of fishes at the Field Museum and co-author of the paper:

"It kind of blows sharks out of the water as far as bite force goes. A huge great white shark is probably only capable of biting at about half that bite force. It puts it with big crocodiles and alligators and big dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex in terms of the most powerful biters ever."

What makes this ancient fish even more interesting is its powerful bite and fast attack speed combo. The 0.02 seconds it took it to open its mouth created a suction force which literally brought its prey to its death: the two killer blades. Mark Westneat: "This heavily armored fish was both fast during jaw opening and quite powerful during jaw closing. This is possible due to the unique engineering design of its skull and different muscles used for opening and closing."

Dunkleosteus' history started around 175 million years earlier than dinosaurs; it belongs to the placoderms group of fishes, characterized by a heavy bony armor on heads and necks.

Philip Anderson of the University of Chicago, the study's lead author: "Dunkleosteus was able to devour anything in its environment."