Dunkleosteus (name meaning "Dunkle's Bones") is a genus of arthrodire placoderm fish that originated during the Late Devonian era in what is now North America, Europe, and Africa. The apex predator of the Devonian, Dunkleosteus was the largest placoderms to have existed.
Thought to have been extinct for 358 million years, there are still some that remain alive on Primeval Island. In fact, they are one of the island's apex predators.
Facts[]
Era & Discovery[]
Dunkleosteus lived during the Late Devonian era from 382 – 358 million years ago, living alongside animals like other armored-plated fish. After thriving more than 50 million years as the apex predator in the Devonian Seas, the entire class of placoderms, Dunkleosteus included, disappeared.
While Dunkleosteus was first discovered in 1873, it was named in the year 1956 in honor of paleontologists David Dunkle, then curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, hence its name meaning, "Dunkle's Bones". Numerous fossils of some species have been found in North America, Poland, Belgium, and Morocco.
Discovery & Range[]
Dunkleosteus was discovered by David Dunkle in 1873 in what now Europe, North America, and North America.
Physical Description[]
Dunkleosteus was a massive animal, measuring over 9 m (30 ft) long and weighing at least 5 tons. It had a thick and withstanding armour plated head. The rest of its body was bare flesh. Its jaws were powerful and were lined with teeth-like bony plates which were used to shear off chunks of meat and to crush bone.
Behavior & Traits[]
Dunkleosteus was a solitary but titanic predator, in fact, it was the largest predator in the Devonian period. What made it so powerful was its protective armor plating and its powerful jaws which contained several, teeth-like bony plates. These plates were used to grind and shear off pieces of flesh.
Because of its strong jaws, Dunkleosteus could bite through armor-plating as strong as chainmail. However, they couldn't digest those parts and would regurgitate the plates as well as any other inedible parts of its prey's anatomy. Therefore, Dunkleosteus, similar to modern-day anaconda's, spit up their food. Rather than being sick, Dunkleosteus, as a predatory fish that feeds on armored food, needs to get rid of the indigestible bits and it was perfectly normal...for 360 million years ago.
Due to the other lethal competition in the Devonian seas, Dunkleosteus would kill anything that got in its way. This even included its own kind, even if it was just a juvenile Dunkleosteus. As a result, Dunkleosteus was not just predatory; they were often cannibalistic as well.