The genus
Dunkleosteus (formerly Dinichthys in part) includes about eight species (if including D.
Species affected: Three-quarters of all species disappeared, especially those living in the sea, like the
Dunkleosteus (right).
These small, shelled marine animals were some of the most common inhabitants of the Late Devonian oceans, which had the most extensive reef system in Earth's history.The seas teemed with huge predatory fish such as
Dunkleosteus, and smaller life forms such as trilobites and crinoids (sea lilies).
Armored placoderms such as the gigantic
Dunkleosteus and lobe-finned fishes-similar to the modern lungfish-dominated the waters, while ray-finned fishes, sharks and tetrapods were in the minority, according to Maureen Kearney, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research, along with NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.
With jaws like a shark scientists believe
Dunkleosteus Terrelli might have been "the first king of the beasts".
An ancient fish named
Dunkleosteus terrelli (dunk-lee-OH-stee-us ter-REL-lee) was a terror in the seas.
Scientists recently crowned
Dunkleosteus terrelli, or "the Dunk," the fish with the meanest bite ever.
Newcastle's Centre for Life says negotiations are underway with an aquarium in Liverpool to take the 14ft model of the fierce-looking
dunkleosteus.
The anterior lateral plate (AL) PIN 2921/3269 shows the closest affinity to
Dunkleosteus terrelli (Newberry, 1873), thus it is identified as belonging to the family Dunkleosteidae.
The
dunkleosteus, an ancestor of the shark, was swimming in our waters 400 million years ago.
jani Luksevics, Phyllolepis tolli Vasiliauskas,
Dunkleosteus sp.
SNAP IT UP: The
dunkleosteus, an ancestor of the shark, needs a new home.' EYECATCHING: This Bigg Market lass from the Tunnel of Love is up for grabs.