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Some people bite off more than they can chew, but they╒re no match for the
biggest, baddest biters in the natural world.
We╒re counting down the top 10 most extreme biters in the animal kingdom
and comparing them to your dentist╒s worst nightmares.
Standby for the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth when biting
is taken to The Most Extreme.
Earth is a planet of extremes, extreme places╔ and extreme animals.
But some animals are more extreme than others.
Join us as we countdown to find the most unusual and the most
extraordinary on Animal Planet's, The Most Extreme.
Flying in to number 10 is an animal that really gets under your skin.
Meet the mosquito, the smallest and deadliest creature in the countdown.
You can't escape from this flying bloodhound because it tracks us down
by following the most minute traces of carbon dioxide from our breath.
The mosquito is the mother of all biters because it╒s only the female
that uses her amazing proboscis to suck our blood.
It╒s human blood that nourishes mosquito eggs.
So that╒s why the female has the most complicated biting apparatus in the
countdown. It╒s a combination of Swiss army knife, hypodermic needle and
vacuum cleaner.
But once she has tapped into a blood vessel, our problems have only just
begun for traveling in her saliva are some deadly hitchhikers.
And that╒s why the mosquito is number 10 in the countdown.
Her bite can be lethal.
But it took us a while to make the connection.
Hundred years ago, the scourge of the American military was yellow fever or
yellow jack.
An army doctor thought the disease was spread by mosquitoes.
But to prove it, he needed some human guinea pigs.
We╒ve come to volunteer.
You men know the risk?
Gentlemen, I salute you.
Sure enough, once the volunteers were bitten, they picked up the parasite
transmitted by mosquito spit.
But yellow jack is only one of the diseases spread by the mosquito╒s
deadly bite.
The queen of the killers is malaria.
Even today, malaria spread by mosquitoes will kill one out of every
17 people on earth.
The mosquito may be deadly, but its bite barely scratches the surface of
our extreme countdown.
Coming up next is an animal so tough, it can chew through concrete.
To find number nine in the countdown Oregon zookeeper Jay Haide has to pull
out all the stops.
You can see them actually run through the opening here.
Got to give him time to climb╔ there he goes.
Check him out, by now he got to be coming down and there he goes.
Okay, there╒s only one way out now.
I╒ll just open and in he goes.
We╒ve got one.
Meet the naked mole rat.
It╒s a hairless rodent that spends its life beneath the plains of Africa
building tunnels with its teeth.
It╒s number nine in the countdown because it needs a jaw dropping mass
of muscle.
The muscles on a human body make up nearly half our body weight.
The biggest muscles are attached to our legs and arms.
To chew our food, we move our jaw using only about 1% of our muscle
mass.
But imagine if we were like the naked mole rat.
If we spent our lives tunneling with our teeth, our jaw muscles would make
up a quarter of our muscle mass.
These bucktooth beauties are an orthodontist╒s nightmare.
But naked mole rat moms don╒t lose any sleep over their offspring╒s overbite.
Unlike humans--
Doesn't good looking teeth add luck to Dorothy╒s smile.
Doesn't Jerry look healthy and happy and what about Eleanor?
Yes, everyone is thinking about his teeth this morning.
The nurse has come to talk about dental health.
Not everyone has such healthy teeth.
Look at Sam.
Sam has never taken very good care of his teeth.
Judy╒s teeth are not growing in right.
She needs dental assistance too, perhaps a set of braces like Tom╒s.
Today, Tom and Judy would join an estimated five million Americans of
all ages that are braced for better teeth.
But the only thing this naked mole rat is braced for is action.
He has got concrete reasons for liking his teeth just the way they are.
If I were to drop him right now given enough time, they could actually chew
through the cement of the floor down here.
So these chambers are specially constructed with acrylic and then some
steel mesh and then some material known as hydrostone and the object
here is to keep them from chewing through the hydrostone into the steel
mesh because then you a nightmare for chamber repair.
As you can see, they╒re a little on the feisty side.
And a feisty mole rat will even bite the hand that feeds him.
Little bigger.
Won't be the first time, won't be the last, too far from my heart to kill
me.
It╒s just another casualty to add to the list of people injured by the most
extreme biters on the planet.
We╒ve seen many minors and toothless terrors.
But get ready to brush up on biters that scare us to death when they get
right in your face.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
Slithering into our countdown of extreme biters is the snake.
Every year, over 7000 Americans have close encounters of the venomous kind
and on average, 15 of these will be fatal.
We die because venomous snakes bite with teeth shaped like hypodermic
needles.
And in the Australian outback are the worst bitters of all.
Snakes are number eight in the countdown because the bite of an
inland taipan delivers enough potent venom to kill half a million mice or
100 people.
Even baby taipans are lethal.
But even natural born biters occasionally bite off more than they
can chew.
Luckily bite sized portions are not far away.
Although only 10% of snakes are venomous, it pays to stay well clear
of any animal that bites first and asks questions later.
But at this extreme snake show in Thailand, one man bites back.
But without venom, even our best bite can't match the horror of snake bite.
Already, we╒ve been rattled by rattlers, munched by mole rats and
bled by bugs.
But that╒s child╒s play compared to the deadliest game in the world.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
Sydney, Australia is home to the next contender in our countdown of extreme
biters.
Crawling in to number seven is the funnel web spider.
The funnel web strikes like lightning.
Those enormous fangs inject paralyzing venom deep into their prey and they╒re
strong enough to drive through a lizard╒s skull.
But their fearsome fangs are no use when it comes to eating.
That╒s why funnel webs have a different way of digesting their
dinner.
Imagine if we ate like a funnel web spider.
A pair of fangs would be great for killing food, but useless for chewing.
So we have to make ourselves a little liquid lunch.
Funnel webs through up special enzymes that turn their meal into a soup
that╒s simply sucked up.
The problem is that funnel webs don╒t eat hamburgers and don╒t always stay
out in the garden.
The funnel web is one of the world╒s most dangerous spiders.
It can sink its fangs through your finger nail and inject a poison that
can be lethal especially for children.
In the last 80 years, over a dozen people have been killed by funnel
webs.
But at the Australian reptile park, some spiders are helping save lives.
Mary Rayner has one of the most extreme jobs on earth.
She milks killer spiders.
Funnel webs are so aggressive that when provoked venom drips from their
fangs.
All you need is a steady hand and nerves of steel to suck up the poison
into a glass straw.
The venom then gets used in the manufacture of an antidote to the
spider╒s deadly bite.
At least the funnel web spider no longer has our fate in its fangs.
Life on the plains of Africa is as hectic as any city sidewalk.
But this crosswalk is patrolled by a cold blooded killer.
Jaywalkers don╒t stand a chance.
The crocodile is number six in the countdown because those jaws slam shut
like a steel trap.
Powered by enormous muscles, the crocodile╒s bite strength has been
estimated at 200 kilograms per square centimeter.
That╒s more than 10 times stronger than the average human bite.
That means all 60 cone shaped teeth are driven into flesh with the force
of a sledge hammer.
Once a crocodile has its teeth in you, it╒s almost impossible to escape.
A line up of these massive jaws and teeth is a terrifying sight, for more
than just fish are on the menu.
Any living thing that enters the water is a potential meal.
In waters around the world, each year crocodiles claim an estimated 2000
lives.
Crocs can hold their breath for up to an hour which means they can swim
right into the shallows in front of you.
When a croc attacks, usually there╒s no warning.
You╒ll never know what hit you.
Crocs even fought in World War II.
The British in Burma had the Japanese army surrounded on an island.
One thousand men tried to escape through croc infested swamps.
After the crocodiles attacked, only 20 made it out alive.
Even today in Australia╒s northern territory, cunning crocs associate
visitors with food.
But these crocs have to dance for their dinner.
With these extreme biters, it really does pay to keep your hands inside the
vehicle at all times.
Despite the crocodile╒s determination to get ahead, it╒s still only number
six in the countdown because coming up are nightmare creatures who really do
want to suck your blood.
It will be a real riot as we open the door on the world╒s most extreme
biters next on The Most Extreme.
No one is safe from the next contender in our countdown of extreme biters.
Insatiable blood sucking biters really do exist which is why the vampire bat
creeps into number five in the countdown.
Fall asleep in Central and South America and you╒re instantly on the
menu.
The tricky part is getting the blood without waking the seal.
That╒s why these extreme biters have a numbing anesthetic in their saliva.
Wouldn╒t it be great to have the bat╒s pain killing spit the next time you╒re
at the dentist?
The vampire doesn╒t have to worry about the dentist because it has fewer
teeth than any other bat.
Who needs to chew their food when there╒s a specially grooved tongue to
lap up their bloody meal?
The next day, there╒s little evidence that the bat's been feeding.
If only Dracula was as subtle as a real vampire.
But then Dracula is not the only human with a distinctive bite.
Dentists can easily identify patients because our 32 teeth leave a bite
that╒s as unique as a finger print.
Forensic dentistry can catch criminals and identify bodies and people have
been polishing these skills for centuries.
During the revolutionary war, an American general by the name of Joseph
Warren was killed at Bunker Hill.
His body was buried in an unmarked grave.
A year later, it was decided to dig him up for a proper burial.
But the search for the dead general came to a dead end because no one
could tell the various bodies apart.
Finally, a Boston dentist identified the fallen hero by his distinctive
dental work.
The world╒s first forensic dentist had already galloped into the pages of
history, for Dentist Paul Revere is more famous for riding like a bat out
of hell.
Vampire bats are also famous because these extreme biters will sink their
teeth into any large mammal.
Of course with their anesthetic spit, we never notice that bats find us
finger licking good.
We love dogs.
You can find a dog in more than a third of all American homes.
Today in the United States alone, the dog population exceeds 50 million.
But man╒s best friend has a dark side.
Dogs are number four in the countdown because sometimes their bite is much,
much worse than their bark.
Each year more than 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs.
Domestic dogs are now found in so many homes that each year, you╒ve got a one
in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog and sometimes those bites can be
deadly.
In the United States alone it╒s estimated that dogs will kill 17
people.
That╒s more deaths than from the bites of grizzlies, gators and spiders
combined.
Dogs can be dangerous because when it comes to biting, they╒re not very
different from their ancient ancestor, the wolf.
They still have powerful jaws and teeth for tearing flesh and breaking
bone.
For some dogs, biting can be such a problem that worried owners take their
pampered pooch to a doctor who has really gone to the dogs.
At this practice in Manhattan Beach, California, dog bites are big business
because Dr. David Nielson is a veterinary dentist.
Today╒s patient is being fitted with braces.
What's happening with this dog is that the top incisors are moving to the
back and so they╒re actually hitting on the lower incisors.
And so when they hit on the lower incisors, they'll actually move them
and that will create an opening for infection and what we╒re going to do
is end up with the healthy mouth.
But David and his team don╒t just give dogs, perfect smiles.
He has found a way to take the bite out of some canine criminals.
The way we deal with dogs who have a bad reputation as a biter is obviously
first we go through dog trainers and if they actually-- basically call a
Class 5 would be a bite where it actually draw blood and their rule of
thumb is that if a dog has bitten that hard, they can't be trained to not
bite. It╒s like asking a person to never get angry.
I mean it╒s impossible.
And so what we do is actually, we╒ll take off the canine right at about his
level, half way the low level of the incisors because the way a dog bites
us, the canine tooth tears.
And so you take the dog from being a biter into a pincher.
But psychologically, it changes them and they just all of a sudden are much
more mellow.
We╒ve done this on a number of dogs and without problems afterwards, so
that╒s kind of a neat way to save their lives.
Thanks to Dr. Nielson, now even the most extreme biters can dream of being
both man and woman╒s best friend.
Excellent dog, what a good doggy.
Excellent.
It seems incredible that anything has a more extreme bite than dangerous
dogs, ferocious vampires and crushing crocodiles.
But coming up is an animal with such a foul mouth, it can bull over a
buffalo.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
Falling into number three in the countdown is the Komodo dragon.
On remote islands of Indonesia, these giant lizards reign supreme.
Komodo dragons are number three in the countdown because just one bite is all
it takes to bring down an animal the size of a buffalo.
Dragons have the world╒s worst halitosis.
Inside its mouth festering meat trapped in the Komodo╒s teeth turns
its saliva into a bacterial broth.
Just one bite is enough to cause a fatal infection.
And then it╒s feeding time.
Komodo dragons have more than 60 teeth and all of them are as sharp and
serrated as steak knives.
Its teeth are almost as deadly as the bacteria in its septic saliva.
But then human mouths are also full of bacteria.
The bacteria may not be deadly, but they do cause the most common disease
in the world, tooth decay.
Our teeth are under attack by billions of bacteria that grow in a layer
called plaque.
When we eat sugary foods, so do the bacteria.
They turn the sugars to acids and acids eat into tooth enamel.
But our body can fight back.
Our spit is full of minerals that replace the once dissolved away by
plaque acids.
Each day, you produce about a liter of saliva which means in your lifetime,
you make enough saliva to fill a swimming pool.
That╒s 25,000 liters of spit.
Komodo dragons are such efficient biters that they hardly ever strike
out when they come up to bat.
But even the Komodo╒s mighty mouth is no match for our next contender.
In Kenya, this peaceful pond is home to the hippopotamus.
They look so graceful that it╒s hard to imagine why hippos should be number
two in the countdown.
But making eye contact with a hippo could be the last thing you ever do.
The hippopotamus is number two in the countdown because any trespasser will
quickly learn that it╒s one murderous mammal.
At the Honolulu zoo, keeper Mary Rosolowich knows exactly how dangerous
hippos can be.
Hippos kill more people in the wild than any other animals including like
lions and tigers and bears.
All the ones that you think are really dangerous, they╒re very territorial.
They don╒t eat people, they just chew them up.
They can open their jaw to 150 degrees and the males have their lower canines
to get up to 20 inches long and they╒re razor sharp and they can kill
each other with a single bite.
And it╒s this extreme bite that puts the hippo in at number two in the
countdown.
A male hippo has a mouth that opens more than a meter wide.
But a big mouth comes in handy when it╒s time for a dental check up not
that hippos need much more than a quick fish floss.
In fact, their teeth are so strong, they inspired the earliest dentists.
There was a time when false teeth were crafted from hippo ivory.
In fact, it was a hippopotamus that gave George Washington his ring of
confidence.
Porcelain teeth were an improvement.
But they still didn╒t have the same shine as natural teeth.
So in 1942, they mixed in uranium to add a real glow and to fill the mouth
with more than four times the normal level of radiation.
They stopped adding uranium in the 80s to the relief of 32 million Americans
whose teeth go out at night.
And even though they╒re number two in our countdown of extreme biters, it
will be a relief to most hippos that these days their teeth don╒t end up in
the mouth of a president.
We╒ve seen the nine contenders.
They╒re the best of the best.
Only one animal is a more extreme biting machine.
It╒s number one and it╒s coming up next on The Most Extreme.
The most extreme biting animal in the countdown lives in the sea, but it╒s
not what you expect.
For when it comes to biting, what could be better than jaws?
Surely nothing could compete with the great white shark.
The great white shark is a blood thirsty biter that could easily be
number one in the countdown, after all it╒s always on the lookout for
something to sink its teeth into and they go through teeth like nothing on
earth.
That╒s because the shark is constantly replacing old teeth with newer sharper
versions.
Wouldn╒t it be nice if we weren╒t quite so attached to our teeth?
All 32 adult teeth are firmly anchored in our jaws.
Our teeth are meant to last us a lifetime.
But then we don╒t put as much strain on our teeth as a shark.
The average human bite strength is only about 21 kilograms per square
centimeter.
Compare that to a shark, their jaws are estimated to generate forces 100
times more powerful.
We go through a few teeth as well if our bite strength topped the scales at
2,800 kilograms per square centimeter.
But not even the great white shark could take on the U.S. nuclear
submarine fleet and win.
The number one most extreme biter in the countdown earned its place because
back in the 1970s, it forced a nuclear submarine to return to base.
Something attacked the layer of neoprene rubber covering the sensitive
sonar dome in the bow.
Careful study shows that the submarine had been hit by something that removed
a perfect plug of rubber five centimeters wide and 6 centimeters
deep.
It looked like the attacker had just come straight from the kitchen.
The plugs in the neoprene rubber looked as though they had been sliced
by a cookie cutter and that╒s just what happened, for these teeth belong
to the most extreme biter in the countdown, the cookie cutter shark.
It╒s number one because for its size, the cookie cutter has the largest
teeth of any shark in the sea.
But it doesn╒t normally eat submarines.
Nobody has ever filmed what goes on far beneath the waves.
But scientists know that the cookie cutter, one of the smallest sharks in
the world hunts the biggest animals on the planet.
Whales, not nuclear submarines are the normal diet of the cookie cutter shark
and that╒s what makes this biter number one in the countdown.
It feeds by sinking those incredible teeth into the side of a whale and
then lifting out a cookie shaped piece of flesh before the whale or submarine
knows what hit it.
No wonder then when it comes to biting, the cookie cutter shark really
is The Most Extreme.