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Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of large arthrodire ("jointed-neck") fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago.It was a pelagic fish inhabiting open waters, and one of the first vertebrate apex predators of any ecosystem.
Ptyctodontida ("folded teeth") were lightly armoured placoderms with big heads, big eyes and long bodies. They have a strong but superficial resemblance to modern day chimaeras . Their armour was reduced to a pattern of small plates around the head and neck.
The study of prehistoric fish is called paleoichthyology. A few living forms, such as the coelacanth are also referred to as prehistoric fish, or even living fossils, due to their current rarity and similarity to extinct forms. Fish which have become recently extinct are not usually referred to as prehistoric fish.
Living Fossil: the Story of the Coelacanth. W. W. Norton. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009; Weinberg, Samantha (1999). A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth. Fourth Estate. Bruton, Mike (2015).
The order Arthrodira belongs to the class Placodermi, the large group of extinct prehistoric armored fish that is thought to have diverged over 400 million years ago from all sharks and bony fishes (and thus also all subsequent tetrapods, including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians).
Styloichthys (Greek: stylo "pillar" and ichthys "fish"; "Pillar fish") is a prehistoric sarcopterygian, lobe-finned fish which lived during the Early Devonian period of East Yunnan, South China. Because it is clear that the jaws and skull of Styloichthys share many derived features with coelacanthiformes [ 1 ] it is placed as the oldest coelacanth.
Leedsichthys, a giant Jurassic pachycormid. This list of prehistoric bony fish is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be bony fish (class Osteichthyes), excluding purely vernacular terms.
A fossil specimen of Onychodus from Western Australia was found with a placoderm fish half its length logged in its throat. [20] [21] This interesting find was described and illustrated by Dr. John A. Long. [4] [19] [21] The pectoral fins were strong enough for the animal to "walk" around the sea floor in search of a hiding place between coral ...