Dunkleosteus terrelli
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Dunkleosteus Temporal range: Late Devonian, 380–360 Ma |
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| Reconstructed skull, Vienna Natural History Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | †Placodermi |
| Order: | †Arthrodira |
| Family: | †Dunkleosteidae |
| Genus: |
†Dunkleosteus Lehman, 1956 |
| Type species | |
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Dinichthys terrelli Newberry, 1873 |
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| Species | |
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D. terrelli (Newberry, 1873 [originally Dinichthys]) |
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D. terrelli (Newberry, 1873 [originally Dinichthys])
D. ? belgicus (Newberry) 1873
D. denisoni (Kulczycki) 1957
D. marsaisi Lehmann, 1956
D. magnificus (Hussakof & Bryant) 1919
D. missouriensis (Branson) 1914
D. newberryi (Clarke) 1885
D. amblyodoratus Carr & Hlavin, 2010
D. raveri Carr & Hlavin, 2010
Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of arthrodire placoderm fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 360–380 million years ago. Some of the species, such as D. terrelli, D. marsaisi, and D. magnificus, are among the largest arthrodire placoderms ever to have lived.
The largest species, D. terrelli, measuring up to 6 m (20 ft) long and 1 t (1.1 short tons) in weight, was a hypercarnivorous apex predator. Few other placoderms, save, perhaps, its contemporary Titanichthys, rivaled Dunkleosteus in size.
Dunkleosteus is a pachyosteomorph arthrodire originally placed in the family Dinichthyidae, a family composed mostly of large, carnivorous arthrodires like Gorgonichthys. Anderson (2009) suggests, because of its primitive jaw structure, Dunkleosteus should be placed outside the family Dinichthyidae, perhaps close to the base of the clade Pachyosteomorpha, near Eastmanosteus. Carr and Hlavin (2010) resurrect Dunkleosteidae and place Dunkleosteus, Eastmanosteus, and a few other genera from Dinichthyidae within it. (Dinichthyidae, in turn, is made into a monospecific family).
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