Extinct Fish: As fearsome as Dinosaurs, Alligators

Scientists at the Field Museum and the University of Chicago have in their possession a fossilized skull of one of the most fearsome creatures that ever roamed the waters.

Meet the Dunkleosteus terrelli. An extinct fish that lived during the Devonian period, between 360 million and 415 million years ago. Its length reached up to 33 feet and weighed approximately 4 tons.

Belonging to a diverse group of placoderms, Dunkleosteus is able to prey on marine animals much larger than it.

Dr Mark Westneat, Curator of Fishes at the Field Museum in Chicago published a report in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters that featured scientific observations on the fish possible structure.

Using skull fossils for the study to create an accurate musculature of the ancient fish, Dunkleosteus was brought to life. A biomechanical model was then used to show the ancient fish’s jaw design and movement.

It seems that the force of its bite can be measured at around 11,000 pounds. That roughly translates to 80,000 pounds per square inch of pure power. Only two animals can rival that much force, the alligator and the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Protected by armor plating, the fish also featured blade-filled jaws that can open and close with such intensity and speed; even the great white will be torn to shreds. This feature was only developed in sharks 100 million years later.

Another unique attribute of Dunkleosteus is its highly kinetic skull that contains four rotational joints working in harmony. This added to the fish’s unbelievable predatory skills, enabling it to “devour anything in its environment”.

The study only confirmed how useful mechanical engineering theory can be in studying the behavior of fossil animals. Scientists are hopeful that they could continue to employ the same technique in other studies of extinct animals.