Just found a new favorite prehistoric critter!

[FortyTwoBlades]

The gargantuan armored fish, Dunkleosteus! It had a triple-hinged jaw that gave it a bite force greater than that of a T. Rex, and instead of teeth it had sharpened extensions of its skull! Apparently the way the jaws fit together made them self-sharpening, as they rubbed against each other when the jaw worked. Check out those cleaver-like edges!

 

[Doug C]

Far out, the original JAWS ! :thumbup:
Was it large ?

Doug

 

[TyMathews]

We're gonna need a bigger boat....

-Tye

 

[eisman]

Meg!


Much more fun...

 

[C.S. Graves]

I remember back when they called this guy "Dinichthys". Those were the days, dagnabbit! And we had dinonychus back then, none o' these cat-sized, new-fangled "velociraptors".

Anyway, some believe that sexual intercourse as we know it may have began with dunkleosteus. "Bumpin' uglies" indeed!

 

[Cougar Allen]

That's interesting. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Fossils/Specimens/dunkleosteus.html says it was 20 feet long....

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) has a spectacular exhibit of ancient sea life. Actually, all the Fourth Floor fossil halls are beautifully set up.

 

[kozak6]

 

[Esav Benyamin]

"What did it eat?"

"Anything it wanted."

 

[C.S. Graves]

That's interesting. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Fossils/Specimens/dunkleosteus.html says it was 20 feet long....

That's what she said!

"What did it eat?"

"Anything it wanted."

Yep... read that it was believed to have one of the most powerful, if not THE most powerful bites in the animal kingdom.

 

[JNieporte]

We've got one of those in the museum at Union Terminal here; looks to be the same size as the one kozak6 posted. They called ours Dunkleosteus: The Ohio Armored Fish, probably because it was pulled out of the Ohio River.

 

[mwerner]

Hmmmm....Crank baits, or natural? Likley you'd need a chain leader.....

 

[Robert.B]

their is a similar skull in a museum in Brisbane, Australia...pretty cool creature, the one on display is a cast and the original I saw when i was working there which is significantly heavier then the displayed item.