A prehistoric caiman that lived in the Amazon region about eight million years ago had a bite twice as powerful as that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brazilian scientists say.
A team of Brazilian paleontologists calculated the strength of a bite by the Purussaurus brasiliensis, a reptile that lived in the Late Miocene period.
They said it could exert a pressure up to 11.5 tonnes.
That is 20 times the strength of a white shark's bite.
Tito Aureliano, one of the co-authors of the study, said the animal's head was better structured for biting than that of the T-Rex.
The Purussaurus's stout and robust skull with conical teeth were made for gripping large prey.
The findings by the team drawn from a number of research and academic institutions were published in the online Plos One journal.
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