space for the jaw muscle in the skull is very large

Since they feed by grabbing and holding onto their prey, they have evolved sharp teeth for piercing and holding onto flesh, and powerful muscles to close the jaws and hold them shut. The teeth are not well-suited to tearing flesh off of large prey items as is the dentition and claws of many mammalian carnivores, the hooked bills and talons of raptorial birds, or the serrated teeth of sharks. However, this is an advantage rather than a disadvantage to the crocodile since the properties of the teeth allow it to hold onto prey with the least possibility of the prey animal to escape. Otherwise combined with the exceptionally high bite force, the flesh would easily cut through; thus creating an escape opportunity for the prey item. The jaws can bite down with immense force, by far the strongest bite of any animal. The bite of a large crocodile's bite is more than 5,000 lbf (22,000 N), which was measured in a 5.5 m (18 ft) Nile crocodile, on the field,[45] compared to just 335 lbf (1,490 N) for a Rottweiler, 670 lbf (3,000 N) for a great white shark, 800 lbf (3,600 N) for a hyena, or 2,200 lbf (9,800 N) for an American alligator.[46][47] A 5.2 m (17 ft) long saltwater crocodile has been confirmed as having the strongest bite force ever recorded for an animal in a laboratory setting. It was able to apply a bite force value of 3,700 lbf (16,000 N), and thus surpassed the previous record of 2,125 lbf (9,450 N) made by a 3.9 m (13 ft) long American alligator.[48][49] Taking the measurements of several 5.2 m (17 ft) crocodiles as reference, the bite forces of 6-m individuals were estimated at 7,700 lbf (34,000 N).[8] The study, lead by Dr. Gregory M. Erickson, also shed light to the larger, extinct species of crocodilians. Since crocodile anatomy has changed only slightly for the last 80 million years, current data on modern crocodilians can be used to estimate the bite force of extinct species. An 11 to 12 metres (36–39 ft) long Deinosuchus would apply a force of 23,100 lbf (103,000 N), twice that of the latest, higher bite force estimations of Tyrannosaurus.[8] The extraordinary bite of crocodilians is a result of their anatomy. The space for the jaw muscle in the skull is very large, which is easily visible from the outside as a bulge at each side. The nature of the muscle is so stiff, it is almost as hard as bone to touch, as if it were the continuum of the skull. Another trait is that most of the muscle in a crocodile's jaw is arranged for clamping down. Despite the strong muscles to close the jaw, crocodiles have extremely small and weak muscles to open the jaw. Crocodiles can thus be subdued for study or transport by taping their jaws or holding their jaws shut with large rubber bands cut from automobile inner tubes