A marsupial lion that roamed Australia during the Ice Age had the most powerful bite of any known animal in the world, living or extinct, an Australian and Canadian research team has found.
More closely related to a wombat than an African lion, the 100kg marsupial lion, known as Thylacoleo carnifex, could out bite the sabre-toothed tiger, the bone-cracking spotted hyena and the tasmanian devil.
The researchers compared the bite force of the marsupial lion with 38 different species, living and extinct, and found that its jaws were much stronger than any other species for its size.
Thylacoleo carnifex is referred to as the marsupial lion because of its robust, cat-like appearance.
Combined with its powerful jaws and huge incisor teeth, the marsupial lion was the largest mammalian predator in Australia during the Ice Age period. It became extinct some time within the last 45,000 years.
Marsupial lion had fierce bite
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