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.

Plastic Belemnite Replica

A fearsome creature from Earth's ancient past!

Our Plastic Belemnite Replica

Our belemnite measures 6 1/2 inches in length from the tip of its tentacle-like arms to the top of its head; the lateral fins measure 2 1/4 inches. This sturdy, hand painted plastic belemnite is made in Germany and comes with an attached tag describing this and three other fossil sea animals. This tag is printed in English and German. Our belemnite is captured with its tentacle-like arms stretched outward in "speed mode." Notice the fleshy tube underneath the head between the piercing eyes. This tube or funnel is used to propel itself suddenly. The realistic tentacle-like arms show the series of hooks for holding prey. Our plastic belemnite will withstand school projects and playtime and show well as an educational toy or collectors item. See our collection of plastic fossil animals the way they looked in real life.

About Belemnites

Belemnites (or belemnoids) are an extinct group of marine cephalopod, very similar in many ways to the modern squid and closely related to the modern cuttlefish. Belemnites were around from the late Carboniferous to the end of the Cretaceous, a period spanning over 200,000,000 (200 million) years. Belemnites were similar in shape to squid. The body consisted of a torpedo-shaped head and ten arms. The head contained the shell and all internal organs. Paired lateral fins on the head were used for swimming and steering. Eight of the arms were adorned with curved hooks for grasping onto soft-bodied prey. The other two arms were equipped with suckers. As with squid, belemnites possessed a beaklike mouth for eating, and an ink sac. The inklike contents could be ejected into the water, creating a dense cloud that confused an attacker and allowed the belemnite to escape. As with squid, belemnites probably traveled in schools, dove to considerable depths, and occasionally suffered mass mortality that produced large numbers of fossils in a relatively small area.

Belemnites were aggressive, free-swimming, marine predators. They could swim slowly, propelled by a rhythmic beating of the lateral fins, or produce sudden bursts of speed through a jet-propulsion system. An area within the lower part of the head would fill with water and forcefully empty through a flexible fleshy tube called the funnel. This rapidly propelled the organism in the direction opposite to which the funnel was pointed. Generally they swam with head forward and arms trailing behind. Because belemnite eyes were located close to their arms they could not easily see where they were going. As with squid, rapidly swimming belemnites sometimes suffered damaging collisions, as evidenced by numerous fossils of broken shells that appear to have healed.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic or rubber ammonite

We've got lots of new plastic animal replicas to put online, and the ammonite is now finished and uploaded. Take a look at this ancient cephalopod in our gift shop. I've also posted something about taking its photo on my own blog. Usually, these items are fairly easy to photograph, but this one was a challenge! We give you nice big photos, and we want them to look like the real thing so you can truly see what you're getting before you buy.