What's it like to be bitten by a dinosaur?

Scientists examining the lives of killer marine dinosaurs are using alligators to work out the power in the prehistoric animals' jaws. Crocodiles and alligators who have roamed the earth for millions of years are said to have anatomically similar jaws to the extinct kronosaurus, a 30 ft beast weighing over seven tonnes. Experts at the Australian Reptile Park have now used the jaws of modern-day alligators to help infer the bite force of the kronosaurus by attaching a 'bite sensor' to the reptile.

With a specially designed bite-force sensor attached to a plastic water bottle, anatomical scientist Colin McHenry and the reptile keepers were able to tempt the alligator into snapping its fearsome jaws. By measuring the force exerted by the alligator, McHenry says he can get some insight into the dining preferences of several long extinct species. McHenry said: 'If our models are predicting how strong an alligator bite should be, then we can use those models to infer the bite force in a much bigger animal that's not alive any more.'

During the experiment, scientists installed a tiny pressure-sensitive pad mounted on a ribbon which was inserted into the alligator's mouth. The kronosaurus, which the scientists were hoping to compare the alligator to, roamed the seas during the middle Cretaceous period, 110 million years ago. A marine creature with a large head and sharp teeth, the kronosaurus was around 30 ft (9m) long and weighed more than seven tonnes. McHenry sees some similarities between the jaw structure of the ancient kronosaurus and the modern alligator.


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