Hello,
It has been a while and while I am sure
there was no one to miss me I feel like an explanation is needed.
I was in university. I was too busy to
write a blog.
Now that, that is dealt with...welcome to
the new post! This time I am going to talk about some animals that are extinct
that part of me wishes still were around (and part of me is happy they are not
around to stalk and kill me). As the title suggests, I have assembled 10
beasts, ranging all over the animal kingdom, which I find fascinating. There is
no particular order and therefore there is no favorite, coolest, or most
"bad ass". Consider them equivalent.
Today we start with Dunkleosteus -
the prehistoric fish that could crunch you in half.
Dunkleosteus is a genus
of fishes that were around during the Late Devonian period (380-360 million
years ago). The name roughly translates to “Dunkle-boned”. What that means, I
have no idea. Perhaps a Dunkle had bones similar to this guy. Just kidding –
the genus is named after David Dunkle, a curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at
the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The “osteus” likely refers to how bony
this fish was thought to be.
While not quite a Megalodon, one Dunkleosteus species measured up to 10 meters and weighed 3.6 tons. That is more than an
African Elephant. That is pretty awesome. Also, you may or may not know that 10
meters is equal to 33 feet. Thirty-three feet is over 3 stories. Image a fish
longer than most houses are high. Now you have some perspective.
What are truly special about this creature are the jaw and the associate
muscles. Due to the four bar linkage mechanism of their jaws, this armoured fish
was capable of both amazing quick speeds – opening and closing in about 50
milliseconds – a well as intense crushing force that is estimated between 6,000
and 7,000 N. I am not up on my physics but I can assure you that you would not
want to be bitten by this beasty. Rumour has it that they liked to snap
whale-like creatures in half. Just for kicks.
Other
than being massive and strong, I like this guy because he looks like plated
fish with the fortune of having a gigantic snapping turtle head. Turtles are
cool so the Dunkleosteus
is an automatic winner. Like a
turtle, the jaw appears to be a bony plate with hardened cartilage as “teeth”
and spiky ridges to tear off chunks of prey as it slips down the throat. Additionally,
the Dunkleosteus
is enemy boss in the Saga Genesis game Ecco the Dolphin (the best game about a
dolphin ever made).
That’s
it! Hope you enjoyed reading up about this dude. More is coming shortly.
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