Woman is awarded world record for the "largest mouth gape"
This lady has a really huge mouth – the biggest in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. What she can do with it is astounding!
Marie Pearl Zellmer Robinson ended up in the famous world record book more or less due to a coincidence.
She was shown a video on the internet in which the current record holders presented their big mouths.
But Marie knew straight away that she could beat them!
"So I grabbed myself a ruler and I measured," the record-holder told Ketchikan Daily News.
"I’m like, 'wait a second, I can totally beat her!' Not just by a little bit either – hers was reported at around two and a half inches. It was like, 'Dude, I can beat her by almost half an inch.'"
At her next visit to the dentist, she told the doctor about her discovery and asked him to take an official measurement.
It turned out that Marie's mouth diameter was an incredible 7.59 cm (2.98 in)! The previous record holder, Samantha Ramsdell, had just 6.52 centimeters (2.57 in).
The record was a dream come true for Marie, especially as she had previously tried in vain to make it into the special book. In 2013, she was unable to take part in the world's biggest Wellington boot race as she was scheduled to work.
World record holder doesn't show her mega-mouth to just anyone
Although the American is extremely proud of her own success, she doesn't want to show her giant mouth to everyone.
"When I do, it kind of creeps people out," she said. "That’s a creepy jaw!"
Marie already knew as a child that she had an unusually large mouth.
As one of seven siblings, she liked to entertain the other children with tricks, such as putting whole oranges or light bulbs between her jaws.
She can now fit five Jenga stones, a tennis ball, or a burger with ten patties in her mouth at once.
Her mega-mouth is apparently due to her large lower jaw, the bone of which is located at the back near the ear canal, thus allowing her a greater range of movement.
"When I’ve dropped my lower jaw, it’s not hitting the tendons and muscles that a lot of people have," she explained.
"So I can open it wider than most people, just because of my jaw positioning."
Cover photo: Guinness World Records