Dunkleosteus

Jaws Schmaws...look at the jaws on THIS critter!

Our Plastic Dunkleosteus Replica

Our plastic dunkleosteus is a fearsome-looking creature of the prehistoric seas. Made as a museum-quality replica, the shape is true to life based on fossil remains. As with any re-created fossil animal, the coloring is left to the imagination. In this case, the plastic prehistoric fish is painted a strikingly attractive gold with black designs. The bony plates are clearly represented both on the top and bottom of the fish. The hard jaws and bony teeth match those in the fossil remains. Our plastic replica comes with a small informational tag in English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. See more of our extinct animal toys and gifts.

About Dunkleosteus

Dunkleosteus had armor-like plates covering their bodies and grew to enormous size. Imagine one of these fierce creatures the size of a school bus! Dunkleosteus may have been cannibalistic, eating members of its own species. Dunkleosteus evolved in the Silurian Period and became extinct in the Late Devonian (the Devonian was the great age of fishes). It seems to have been a voracious predator, an eating machine that practically knew no bounds. The fossil record suggests that it often ate so much that it regurgitated partially-digested fish when it was over-filled or got indigestion. Although it had no teeth, dunkelosteus had razor-like, bony jaws that were self-sharpening. That, coupled with its strong jaws made it easy for dunkleosteus to slice into its prey - often creatures that were much larger than itself. Experts believe that only T-Rex and alligators have had the jaw-strength of this underwater predator. It was an interesting early "experiment," but it failed over time. Although dunkelosteus lived for about 60 million years, sharks have lived for about 400 million years. There are no living descendants of this prehistoric fish.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.