File:Dunkleosteus_terrelli_(fossil_fish)_(Cleveland_Shale_Member,_Ohio_Shale,_Upper_Devonian;_Rocky_River_Valley,_Cleveland,_Ohio,_USA)_21_(34001200911).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Dunkleosteus
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Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of large arthrodire ("jointed-neck") fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. It was a pelagic fish inhabiting open waters, and one of the first vertebrate apex predators of any ecosystem. Fossils of Dunkleosteus have been found in the United States, Canada, Poland, Belgium, and Morocco.
~25 min read
Encyclopedic overview
14 sectionsContents
- Discovery
- Taxonomy
- Species
- Description
- Size and anatomy
- Length estimations of ''D. terrelli''
- Paleobiology
- Diet
- Reproduction
- Growth
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of large arthrodire ("jointed-neck") fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. It was a pelagic fish inhabiting open waters, and one of the first vertebrate apex predators of any ecosystem. Fossils of Dunkleosteus have been found in the United States, Canada, Poland, Belgium, and Morocco.
Dunkleosteus consists of ten species, some of which are among the largest placoderms ("plate-skinned") to have ever lived: D. terrelli, D. belgicus, D. denisoni, D. marsaisi, D. magnificus, D. missouriensis, D. newberryi, D. amblyodoratus, D. raveri, and D. tuderensis. However, the validity of several of these species is unclear. The largest and best known species is D. terrelli, the type species.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dunkleosteus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.