Shark Vs Alligator : Who Would Win?
Shark Vs Alligator : Who Would Win? Neither will be able to kill another out-right, but a great white is more likely to die from its injuries.
People seem to have believe that a bigger predator is a more lethal predator. While this is often true if we are limiting the debate to the same type of predators. When you cross over a scenario of Great White Shark (GWS) and a Salt Water Crocodile (Saltie), there are a lot more factors to be considered.
1. Bite Force.
Although having a huge jaw, the great whites don’t have the highest bite force amongst sharks due to their diet. Biting through a seal’s skin is very different than biting through the shells of a turtle. Something the smaller Bull sharks have to do on a regular basis. As a result, the recoreded bite force of a Bull Shark (about 600kg) is almost twice as much as that of a GWS. Measured at the back of their jaw (Maria Habegger, University of South Florida, pardon my lazy citations).
Shark Vs Alligator : Who Would Win?
There are reports from computer modeling that a GWS is capable of a bite force exceeding 1000kg based on its jaw and skeleton structure. However lab results of GWS bites are much lower than that. As a result, it is safe to assume while GWS may have the bone structure to perform such bone-crunching munches. They may not necessarily have evolved the muscle group required to do so due to their prey types.
However even Bull Shark’s bite force pales in comparison to that of a crocodiles (often exeeding 1 ton for a Nile). Let a lone a Saltie whose closing force is almost two tons, comparable to a T-Rex:
‘That’s not a bite, mate’. Australian saltwater crocodiles have world’s most ferocious jaws – snapping shut with two-ton force that makes Great Whites look toothless
2. Tooth type.
Again, due to their usual prey types, crocs and sharks have very different types of teeth.
A crocodile’s prey is typically not only larger than a shark’s but also have much stronger bones and skins. A croc’s teeth therefore not only needs to be able to tear flesh off the wildebeest through death spin. But also needs to be strong enough to crush the thick leg bones of these mammals. A GWS, on the other hand, does not need to crunch such bones.
Shark Vs Alligator : Who Would Win?
GWS tear fleshes off their prey by biting and thrashing their head. And their serated teeth are more mechanically similar to a saw than a dagger. Their teeth is actually not designed to brace huge pressure as they are replaceable. GWS have rows and rows of spare teeth behind each visible teeth. Ready to replace them in the event they fall off during a struggle. Personally this type of teeth would not be my first choice if I need to bite through the back of a Saltie.
Which leads us to the next point:
3. Armor.
A GWS’s delicate skin was not designed for withstanding a couple of tons of penetrating forces. On the other hand a Saltie’s prehistoric armor looks a bit more weather proof. You know it’s a good design if Godzilla wears the same dress.
4. Jaw size.
GWS wins this one, because Steven Spielberg.
Shark Vs Alligator : Who Would Win?
So we have a situation where a GWS has enough jaw size to bite the body of a Saltie. But lacks the bite force and the teeth to make it count.
The Saltie has enough bite force and the right teeth to do serious damage to what ever it can put in its mouth. But its mouth is not big enough for a GWS.
The most likely outcome of such an encounter would be both animals being maimed by the other.
A GWS is most likely to die from missing a fin, but a Saltie can live just fine without a leg.
Proof?
Meet Brutus:
In conclusion, he’s 80 years old and rumor has it he lost his front leg to a shark when he was younger.
Yeh Australia has high standards for its senior citizens.
