Dunkleosteus

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

James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
DunkleosteidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Arthrodira
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Arthrodira
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Arthrodira

Time the record covers

At least 10 million years on record.

The record covers at least 382.31 Mya to 372.15 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 387.95 Mya to 358.86 Mya.

Devonian — about 7 of 7 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 0 of 7 occurrences389–388 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences388–387 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences387–386 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences386–384 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences384–383 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences383–382 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences382–381 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences381–380 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences380–379 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences379–378 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences378–377 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences377–376 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences376–375 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences375–374 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences374–373 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences373–372 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences372–371 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences371–370 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences370–369 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences369–368 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences368–367 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences367–366 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences366–365 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences365–364 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences364–363 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences363–362 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences362–361 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences361–360 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences360–359 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences359–358 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences382.31 Mya372.15 Mya388.5 Mya358.3 Mya

7 occurrences of Dunkleosteus on record, most of them in the Devonian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

7 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

7 formations

Ohio Shale — 41.41°N, 82.60°WLost Burro — 36.75°N, 117.52°WTērvete — 56.46°N, 23.25°ERockport Quarry Limestone — 45.20°N, 83.39°WAlpena — 45.07°N, 83.41°WAntrim Shale — 45.00°N, 83.46°WKettle Point — 43.22°N, 82.02°W

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The named rock units Dunkleosteus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Dunkleosteus and its relatives

Devonian

Where Dunkleosteus and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

28 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 7 sites for Dunkleosteus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

6 references

Each of the 7 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Dunkleosteus

Credit
James St. John
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDunkleosteidae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Newberry 1874