A giant, prehistoric otter's surprisingly powerful bite

Published November 10, 2017 This content is archived.

An article in National Geographic reports on research by Jack Tseng, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, that suggests that a now-extinct Chinese otter that roamed lakes or swamps was almost as large as a wolf and had jawbones capable of crushing large shells, as well as birds and mammals, making it a key predator in its ecosystem. The article notes the team developed a computer model to test their guess that jaw strength would depend on what foods the species prefers. "You don't need to chew fish, you just sort of bite on it and swallow," Tseng said. Articles appeared in news outlets that include Newsweek, LiveScience, England’s Sunday Post and Daily Mail, International Business Times and Vice’s MotherBoard.

http://www.newsweek.com/wolf-sized-otter-formidable-jaws-was-dominant-predator-china-six-million-years-706197
https://www.livescience.com/60894-giant-prehistoric-otter-was-top-predator.html
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/otter-ancestor-was-the-size-of-a-wolf/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5065299/Otter-unusually-strong-bite-lived-6-million-years-ago.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/extinct-wolf-sized-otter-had-powerful-bite-likely-made-it-top-predator-2612609
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjg4m4/giant-extinct-otter-had-a-forceful-bite-predator