A new study has borrowed a few tricks from paleontological science to estimate whether or not the Rancor fromStar Warscould really have chomped a femur in half . It get that , actually , yes – the Rancor ’s bite amount in at a bone - beat military force of 44,000 Newtons , which about lay it on equation with aTyrannosaurus rex .
In typeface you need a refresher , we ’re talking about that prospect where Luke Skywalker gets trapped inJabba the Hutt ’s deadly arena and finds himself facing down the Rancor . In a bit of a bind , he corrupt himself some clip by block a elephantine leg ivory in the open oral fissure of the enormous beast . The Rancor makes reasonably quick work of the femur , chomping it in half despite femurs being famously undecomposed at stand firm high levels of upright loading .
A memorable scene , and one that activate aspiration for lead authorDr Stephan Lautenschlager , a vertebrate paleontologist and Associate Professor for Palaeobiology at The University of Birmingham , and Colorado - authorDr Thomas Clements , who is now base at Friedrich - Alexander - Universität Erlangen - Nürnberg .
Don’t even ask about the bite force of humans. Embarrassing.Image courtesy of Dr Stephan Lautenschlager and Dr Thomas Clements
“ During lockdown , Thomas had re - watched the originalStar Warstrilogy ( for the two 100th time ) and saw the Rancor effortlessly chomping the bone , ” Lautenschlager told IFLScience . “ He and I were chatting by and by and he asked me if it was potential for anything to snap a erect bone with its jaw and if anyone had ever pattern it . ”
The fun matter about scientist is that what would normally be confined to Shower Thoughts instead flex into a report print in the Journal of Geek Studies title : Is a Bone a Viable Weapon When combat a Rancor ? Estimating the Bite Force of an Intergalactic Mega - Predator . In it , Clements and Lautenschlager use reckoner simulations and biomechanical modeling to examine the goliath encounter , determining that the Rancor had a bite military group that tops every predator alive today .
The white shark sits at around 18,000 Newtons , while the saltwater crocodile clocks in at 16,000 Newtons , all runty nibble compare to the Rancor , whose theoretical bite strength is a off-white - crushing 44,000 Newtons . Could any creature that ’s ever be have rivaled it ? Well , possibly .
One affair to turn over is thatT. rexwouldn’t be capable to lift Luke towards its oral fissure – maybe Luke might not have experience away so well !
“ The bite force of aT. rexis corresponding if not higher than the Rancor ’s , ” said Clements and Lautenschlager , entail that it too would n’t be bested by a large bone . “ The skull , tooth and musculature ofT. rexis adapted for super hard bite forces and crushing bone . In fact , its teeth are not slight and blade - like as in other carnivorous dinosaurs but have a round cross - section – ideal to pulverise pearl . ”
“ This is helped by its strong skull and lower jaws that are build to hold out high strain during feeding . One matter to consider is thatT. rexwouldn’t be able to lift Luke towards its mouth – maybe Luke might not have get away so well ! ”
It is , of course , all a scrap of sport , but there are important takeaway to the research , too . It demonstrates how science andcreativityare constantly overlap as research worker try and job clear their way through obstacles like uncomplete dodo records and decomposed soft tissue paper . Taking inspiration from unconvincing sources can often be the tipping point to solving some of life ’s swell mysteries .
As many of the fossils we utilize are uncomplete or damaged during the fossilisation physical process , we have developed methods that can mitigate these payoff – and by admit them one step further we can apply our method acting to a fictional animal
“ Many of the methods we hire as palaeontologists were not primitively design for palaeontological research but come from engineering science and biomedical field of study – we have co - choose them to answer interesting questions about dinosaurs and other out organism that the finger cymbals alone ca n’t evidence us , ” say Clements and Lautenschlager .
“ As many of the dodo we practice are uncomplete or damaged during the fossilisation mental process , we have develop methods that can palliate these issues – and by taking them one step further we can apply our method to a fictitious animal . While this study is a bit of playfulness , it shows that our method and approaches are really various . Plus , who else can say they have print a subject on extraterrestrial mega - predators ? ”
I , for one , am jealous .
The study is published in the ( wonderfully named)Journal of Geek Studies .
