Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus terrelli
This armoured fish is one of the best-known apex predators from before the rise of modern sharks.
Image: James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Dunkleosteus terrelli
- Period
- Late Devonian
- Lived
- 382–358.9 Ma (382 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Open sea
- Length (estimate)
- 6 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 1,000 kg
Description
Dunkleosteus was a placoderm with heavy bony plates over its head and front trunk, but no ordinary teeth. Sharp bony jaw edges formed a self-sharpening bite, although its precise bite force and body length are uncertain. It was probably a large predator in Devonian seas and could seize prey with a rapid jaw movement. Its rear body is rarely preserved, so many reconstructions draw on related species.
Habitat
Warm, shallow seas and reef environments.
Fossil sites
Cleveland Shale, Ohio
Cleveland Shale
Cultural profile: United States →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Dunkleosteus