DUNKLEOSTEUS ^ juvenile fossil (photo 1), an adult (photo 3) & a reconstruction (photo 2) - a late devonian fish that lived 382–358 million yrs ago and was one of the first vertebrate apex predators. because its body has not been preserved, it was once estimated to have reached sizes such as 8.79 or even 10 meters long, but after a publication in 2023 using a much more reliable scaling method, it turned out that dunkleosteus must've actually been around 3.4 meters long! it likely had the strongest bite force of any fish, living or fossil..
DICKOSTEUS ^ reconstruction (photos 5 & 6); it lived in the middle devonian period 393.3–382.7 million years ago and had a lenght of 43.7 cm (17.2 in). all of these fish had an armoured head! pretty sick!
COCCOSTEUS ^ reconstructions (photos 7 & 9) & a fossil (photo 8); it lived from the middle to the late devonian 393.3–359.3 Ma and it grew to around 29.6–39.4 cm (11.7–15.5 in) in length. as an arthrodire, it had an internal joint between its neck vertebrae and the back of its skull, allowing it to open its mouth quite wide and chomp onto bigger prey...
