Four hundred million years ago, long before the dinosaurs walked the Earth, dunkleosteus was at the top of the world's food chain. One of the first jawed animals on the planet, this prehistoric armored fish attacked its prey with bone-crunching ferocity.
Muscle Man: This fish's body was bulky and extremely muscular. It needed the muscle power to propel itself through the water when it attacked prey.
Bone Head: Dunkleosteus' skull was made of several pieces of thick bone, giving it an armored plating that no other creature could break through.
B.T. (Before Teeth)[]
Millions of years after its death, the fossilized skeleton of dunkleosteus is still a scary sight.
Dunkleosteus didn't really have "teeth," but jagged extensions of its jawbone. A first step in the evolution of teeth, the bones continually grew and stayed sharp as the fish used them to bite through prey. Thick and fang-like in the front, they could easily chop a large victim in half. In back the "teeth" were wide and a little smoother, like molars, and used for grinding food.
Protective Eyewear: To keep them safe, dunkleosteus' eyes were set inside four pieces of thick bone that formed a circular shield.
Widemouth: Each jawbone was connected to the skull by a set of hinges, allowing dunkleosteus to swing open both the upper and lower jaws in a huge gape.
It's a Snap[]
- Seeing a primitive ray-like fish swimming nearby, dunkleosteus turns its massive body around in pursuit of the meal.
- Closing its sharp jawbones together, it not only rips a chunk out of the victim's body, but severs it in half for an instant kill.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The Dunkleosteus is featured on several other cards:
- It is mentioned as a predator and "enemy" of the Stethacanthus on the prehistoric shark's card.
- The fish is name-dropped on the Cladoselache card.
- The dunkelosteus is featured on several Monster Mania cards:
- The dunkleosteus is first featured in Fossil Finders on Monster Mania 7.
- The image of its fossil on the back of the knowledge card is used for the game.
- It is then featured in Timeline Tracker on Monster Mania 8.
- It again shows up in Killer Smiles on Monster Mania 10.
- Lastly, it is featured in Timeline Tracker on Monster Mania 57.
- This makes it the first creature to appear in Timeline Tracker twice.
- The dunkleosteus is first featured in Fossil Finders on Monster Mania 7.