Ancient monsters chew on sharks

It was a 10-meter long sea creature, weighed 4 tons and had sharp teeth that opened suddenly with bite force of up to 5 tons. Animals can chew anything in the ocean into its sights.

Scientists now claim that this ancient fish, Dunkleosteus terrelli, may be the first king of evil animals. The creature lived 400 million years ago and could tear the shark's body in half with just one bite.

The study shows that Dunkleosteus has the most powerful set of all marine life ever, on par with the power of T-rex and other modern crocodiles.

"Dunkleosteus can eat anything in its environment , " said Philip Anderson, a researcher at the University of Chicago, USA. The animal was the dominant predator at that time.

Anderson and Mark Westneat, at the Field Museum in Chicago, used the Dunkleosteus fossil to create a computer model of its biting muscles and forces. They found that creatures can bite hard with forces of up to 5 tons. And it opens the jaw very quickly, in just 1/50 seconds, to create a force that draws the prey into the mouth. Fish often have only strong bite force or quick bite, not both.

The skull of the ancient fish Dunkleosteus terrelli (photo: cnrs.fr)

Dunkleosteus is a group of placoderms, a group of fierce fish that dominate the marine ecosystem in the Devonian period, about 360-415 million years ago. Its powerful bite allows animals to eat other powerful creatures of the day, such as sharks and arthropods.

MT