How Strong Is a Jaguar's Bite? Jaguar Bite Force Facts

How strong is a jaguar’s bite in numbers?

Nobody has measured the full bite of a wild adult jaguar with a gauge, so all figures are estimates from skulls and jaw muscles. Different methods give different results.

Studies based on skull shape and the size of the jaw muscle attachments gave fairly modest figures, with one estimate of the average force at the canine tips of under 1,000 newtons. A 2012 study that dissected the jaw muscles of cats and measured their fibers produced much higher values: for a 100 kg (220 lb) jaguar, roughly 4,900 N (about 1,110 pounds-force) at the canine teeth and roughly 6,900 N (about 1,560 pounds-force) at the carnassials, the slicing cheek teeth farther back in the jaw.

These numbers are not contradictory so much as answers to slightly different questions, using different assumptions. What all the studies agree on is the ranking: the jaguar bites harder than any cat except the tiger and lion, and far harder than a cougar or leopard of similar size.

What does “strongest bite for its size” mean?

Big animals naturally have bigger muscles and stronger bites, so comparing raw numbers mostly tells you which animal is larger. To compare fairly, Stephen Wroe and colleagues introduced the bite force quotient (BFQ) in 2005. It adjusts bite force for body mass, so a score above 100 means an animal bites harder than expected for its weight.

In early comparisons the jaguar came out highest among the big cats, which is the source of the popular claim that it has “the strongest bite of any big cat for its size”. Later tables put the jaguar and tiger roughly level. Either way, a jaguar bites far harder than you would expect from an animal that usually weighs 56–96 kg (123–212 lb). For the strongest bites across the whole animal kingdom, see strongest bite force.

The skull-piercing bite

Most big cats kill large prey with a suffocating bite to the throat or by clamping the muzzle. The jaguar often does something different: it bites directly through the skull of mammals, driving its canine teeth through the thin bone between or behind the ears and into the brain.

Examinations of capybaras killed by jaguars show the canines piercing the temporal bones at the side of the skull and breaking the cheekbone and lower jaw. This kills quickly, which matters for a cat that often hunts alone in dense cover or at the water’s edge.

The jaguar can also use the throat bite or neck bite, especially on deer and cattle. It chooses its method according to the prey.

Cracking turtle shells and caimans

The jaguar’s bite is strong enough to break through the shells of turtles and tortoises. In the Amazon, jaguars have been recorded biting through the shells of yellow-spotted river turtles and yellow-footed tortoises, prey that is armored against almost every other predator.

In the Pantanal, jaguars regularly hunt yacare caimans. A jaguar typically lunges from the bank or swims up to a resting caiman, seizes it from above and bites into the back of the neck or skull. Caimans of more than a meter (3 ft) long are taken this way.

Some scientists have suggested that the jaguar’s powerful bite evolved partly for armored reptiles, which became important prey after many large mammals of the Americas died out at the end of the last Ice Age. Others doubt this, because even where reptiles are common, jaguars still eat more mammals. The idea remains a hypothesis. Read more in what do jaguars eat?

What makes the bite so strong?

Several features of the jaguar’s head work together:

• A short, broad skull. A short snout gives the jaw muscles more leverage, like holding a nutcracker close to the hinge.
• Huge jaw muscles. The temporalis muscle, which closes the jaw, is large and anchored on a high ridge along the top of the skull.
• Wide cheekbones. The broad zygomatic arches leave room for bulky muscles to pass underneath.
• Thick, robust canines. Jaguar canines are stout and resist the bending forces involved in biting through bone.

These are the same features that make a jaguar’s head look so much heavier and squarer than a leopard’s; see leopard vs jaguar.

The 1,500 psi myth

Many websites state that a jaguar bites with about 1,500 psi (pounds per square inch), or even 2,000 psi. These figures do not come from published measurements of jaguars. They also mix up two different things: bite force, measured in newtons or pounds-force, and pressure, which depends on how small the contact area is. A narrow tooth tip creates enormous pressure from a modest force, so a psi figure without the tooth area means little.

The honest answer is that a jaguar’s bite force is estimated at anywhere from under 1,000 to about 5,000 newtons at the canines, depending on the method and the size of the cat, which is more than enough to pierce a skull or a turtle shell.

Is a jaguar’s bite dangerous to people?

Jaguars rarely attack humans, and most known attacks involved animals that were cornered, wounded or defending cubs. Wild jaguars generally avoid people. Anyone traveling in jaguar country should watch them only from a safe distance, for example from a guided boat, and never approach or feed them. In an emergency involving any wild animal, seek emergency medical help immediately.