Ancient fish thought to be larger than sharks was actually quite short

Dunkleosteus terrelli was an armoured predator fish with bladed jaws as a substitute of tooth that lived 360 million years in the past. Researchers thought it was a 9-metre-long big however it might have even have been half that measurement

By Jake Buehler

One of the earliest vertebrate apex predators might not have been an enormous in spite of everything.

Dunkleosteus terrelli – usually portrayed as a 9-metre-long, armoured, shark-like predatory fish with bladed jaws as a substitute of tooth – might have been a a lot smaller animal, with odd, chunky, shortened proportions.

The practically dozen identified species of Dunkleosteus are arthrodires, a wide range of early fishes that reached their heyday within the Devonian interval, greater than 360 million years in the past. They had rugged armour plating overlaying their heads and the entrance half …