A gray wolf's rear teeth can generate more than twice the bite force of a domestic dog's, and the skull geometry behind it helps the predator process the bones of elk-sized prey

A gray wolf's rear teeth can generate more than twice the bite force of a domestic dog's, and the skull geometry behind it helps the predator process the bones of elk-sized prey

The gray wolf’s bite is powerful, but the familiar 1,200 psi figure needs context before it can be compared with a domestic dog’s. Yellowstone National Park lists a bite pressure of 1,200 psi on its wolf facts page, yet that number is a pressure estimate rather than a universal laboratory reading. Pressure depends on the contact area of the tooth, while biomechanics studies more often calculate force in newtons and show that the result changes w…