Some time in our lives, we have either called someone “big mouth” or have been called “big mouth” ourselves. This stems from the Chinese language where, when one is referred to as “big mouth” it means this person carries tales, is a big gossiper or one who simply talks a lot! In the animal world here “big mouth” refers to precisely that a “b-i-g mouth”.

Some of the biggest mouths, in relation to its body size, are not found in the biggest animals but smaller ones instead, who are voracious eaters!

Snake

A snake’s jaws can open 150 degrees. This makes it really easy for the snake to swallow anything bigger than itself!

All snakes are strictly carnivorous, eating small animals including lizards, other snakes, small mammals, birds, eggs, fish, snails or insects. The body size of the snake is the major influence of its eating habits. Smaller snakes eat smaller prey. Juvenile pythons might start out feeding on lizards or mice and graduate to small deer or antelope as an adult, for example.

The snake’s jaw is the most unique jaw in the animal kingdom. It can dislocate their jaws! They have a very flexible lower jaw, the two halves are not rigidly attached as well as other joints in the skull allow them to open their mouths wide enough to swallow their prey whole, as they do not chew, even if the prey is larger in diameter then the snake itself!

Please don’t try this at home! This python can easily swallow this child whole!

Here’s a video posted on June 11, 2008.

Did you know that the top ten most venomous snakes are all found in Australia? Also, as long as there is food available, snakes keep on growing in their entire lifetime.

Pelican

Its mouth is three times bigger than its stomach. It can hold up to 3 gallons (11 liters) of water! That’s like having 8 1.5 liters of coke in your mouth!

They have enormous, pouched bills. The parent pelicans, will open wide and let their young to reach down into their gullet to feed!

The regular diet of a Pelican usually consists of fish, but they also eat amphibians, crustaceans and on some occasions, smaller birds.

According to a BBC News article in October 2006, tourists in St. James Park in London saw a Pelican walk up to a living pigeon and snapped it up in it’s bill. After a 20 minute struggle, the Pelican swallowed the still flapping pigeon! Here’s the video. Be warned!

Crocodile

Its mouth makes up 15% of its body length. Crocodiles are very fast over short distances, even out of water.

They have the strongest bite force of any animal. Comparing to a rottweiler (335 psi), a great white shark (400 psi) or hyena (800 to 1,000 psi) a crocodile’s bite force is more than 5,000 pounds per square inch!

They have very sharp teeth for tearing into flesh or holding on to their prey, however to open their jaws the crocodiles have a very weak set of muscles.

They cannot open their mouth if it is held closed. Thus taping their mouths close will usually subdued them for study or transport purposes.

Did you know that the crocodile’s tongue does not move? It is attached to the bottom of its mouth! Crocodiles keep growing throughout their lifetime, this means they can keep growing for 40 – 60 years!

Whale Shark

Its massive mouth makes up about 16% of its body length.

This whale shark is a filter feeder as it feeds on phytoplankton, macro-algae, plankton, krill and small squid. It sucks in a mouthful of water, closes its mouth and expels water through its gills. Watch this fantastic footage shot by the National Geographic on this gentle giant eating.

Hippopotamus

Its jaw can extend up to 170 degrees.

The open mouth signals that the hippo is feeling threatened. Their main source of food is short grass on land.

They spend most of their time in water or mud to keep their body temperature down and prevent their skin from drying out.

 Right Whale

In relation to its body size, the size of its mouth is ranked at #3.

This beautiful animal’s diet consists primarily of zooplankton and tiny crustaceans, krill and pteropods. They usually feed by “skimming” along with their mouth open.

Water and prey enters their mouths but only water will pass through the baleen as the prey stay trapped in the mouth. Skimming may take place on the surface, underwater or even close to the ocean’s bottom. Here’s a fantastic footage taken on 30 July, 2007.

Viperfish

Its mouth takes up 30% of its body length.

Image Source

This fish’s skull is joined to its spine by a ball and socket joint for maximum head movement. It also has a stretchy throat membrane. These will help accommodate an extra large bite!

This fish is a deepwater fish

Argentine Horned Frog

It’s mouth is about 50% of its body length.

It is also known as the Pacman Frog. It is such a voracious eater that any movement close to its wide mouth, for example insects, small birds and mammals, lizards and other frogs, would tempt it take a bite and swallow it, even if it would suffocate in the process!

These frogs have lots of sharp teeth along their bottom jaw and if they are being threatened by human or a larger animal, they can deliver a painful bite. Sometimes, they will even jump towards their attacker irregardless of how big or strong their attacker is! So if you happen to walk in front of this frog, be prepared for it to leap forward to give your calf a bite!

These frogs sit motionlessly, as they blend in with the environment, waiting for their food to come close to their mouth before they lunge forward and snag it. They then swallow the food by pushing it down with their eyeballs!

If you are squeamish, please don’t watch this video. I couldn’t watch this.