Dunkleosteus

Dunkleosteus was a prehistoric arthrodire. It was a primitive fish from the later Devonian period, about 360 million years ago. Dunkleosteus was a heavily armoured placoderm. Fossils have been found in Morocco, Africa, Poland, Belgium, China, and the USA.

Dunkleosteus Temporal range: late Devonian 380–360 mya
Dunkleosteus skull, Queensland Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	†Placodermi
Order:	†Arthrodira
Family:	†Dinichthyidae
Genus:	†Dunkleosteus Lehman, 1956

Placodermi first appeared in the Silurian, and the group became extinct during the transition from the Devonian to the Carboniferous, leaving no descendants. The class lasted barely 50 million years, in comparison to the 400 million year long history of sharks.

Description

This top predator was up to 11.5 ft (3.5 m) long and had large, scissor-like cutting jaws with serrated, razor-sharp bones, but no teeth. Its skull was over 2 feet (65 cm) long. It had a jointed neck, an eel-like tail, a scale-less body, and hinged body shields.

Dunkleosteus Media

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  Front view of D. terrelli skull

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  Labelled skull diagram of D. terrelli

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  Fossil - Took the picture at Musee des Confluences, Lyon

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  Partial lower jaw of CMNH 5936, the largest known individual of Dunkleosteus terrelli. Scale = 10 cm.