DUNKLEOSTEUS

Dunkleosteus was a 30 foot long carnivorous tank. It was outlasted by sharks, but I am sure that is small consolation for the variety of creatures this beast ate. Instead of teeth, it had bony ridges, like a turtle. It has been calculated that they had a bite force of 8,000 pounds per square inch, putting it on par with crocodiles and T-Rex in terms of being history’s strongest biters. They also believe, based on the evidence in the skull regarding its musculature, that it could have opened its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, meaning it vacuumed food into its guillotine of a mouth.

The plates that made up the “teeth” changed as the fish aged from a solid, rigid jaw to segments that allowed it to hold prey easier, and made it more effective in biting through the bony plate armor of other armored fish. In the arms race that was the prehistoric ocean, Dunkleosteus was a predatory super tank.