How It Works 043
DID YOU KNOW? Two pangolin species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
An ancient
armoured fish
Swimming through Earth’s prehistoric
waters, these armoured giants once
dominated the waves. Spanning
around nine-metres long, Dunkleosteus
was one of the biggest fish during the
late Devonian period, between 382 and
358 million years ago. What made this
giant fish different from its modern-day
descendants was its exterior head
armour it wore. This helmet-like armour
was made from bone and also covered
Dunkleosteus’s thorax and jaw, which
could chomp through the bones of its
prey with ease. As a keen carnivore, when
prey species became scarce it’s believed
these sea giants turned to cannibalism to
survive. Despite its physical protection
and bite power, like the other 75 per cent
of species on Earth, Dunkleosteus died
out during the Devonian mass extinction
around 375 million years ago.The name Dunkleosteus comes from the
Greek for ‘Dunkle’s bone’
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