Prehistoric caiman's bite 'twice as strong' as T-Rex's

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. Purussaurus brasiliensis could reach a length of more than 12.5m (41ft), longer than a London bus, and was an unrivalled predator in its wetland habitat, the researchers said.READ MORE-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-31644163w