Scientists have recently discovered an even stronger material. The tiny teeth of the Patella Vulgata Limpet in Southampton U.K. The teeth are on something resembling a tongue which the gastropod uses to scrap the rocks for algae.
The tensile strength needed to break these teeth is 3-6.5 gigapascals (GPA). If you're having a hard time relating that to the everyday (as I did), it is in the order of a strand of spaghetti holding up 3,000 pounds.
The teeth get their strength from being made by a mineral called goethite which contains iron in a fiborous structure and are encased in a protein.
Image via University of Portsmouth
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