Dunkleosteus and the first Fish Apex Predators

The earliest and most primitive fish date all the way back to around half a billion years ago, however, around this time and for many millions of years after this they were usually at the bottom of the food chain and most, if not all of the large predatory niches were occupied by giant ancient invertebrates. However this changed around 400 million years ago in the devonian peridod when there was a major shift that largely persists to this day, with fish becoming the most dominant animals in the ocean.
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Sources:
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2009/6...
ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates...

[@Foodnstuff109]

Channels like this made me realize that I never hated biology or history, I just didn't like the way schools tried to teach it

[@Luluskuy]

Yeah, don't forget math too!

[@Magneticlaw]

Agreed. "Teachers should get paid more?" Ever hear that one? Why? Most of them suck. They're not firefighters or paramedics, or even garbage men.

[@Luluskuy]

@@Magneticlaw but teacher should definitely paid more though. In my country, teacher salary is somewhat around $33 / month! That was the reason why this job not attracting to qualified people.

[@drakesmith471]

@@Luluskuy I would agree. There needs to be better curriculum, someway somehow. Not every kid has to be pushed towards STEM, the trades need to be embraced too. In addition to better pay, there needs to be higher qualifications, and the people who suffer most probably are kids in the city. My impressions anyways, but yeah, they haven’t a lot going for them to draw them and that’s really unfortunate, as we need good teachers.

[@lalehiandeity1649]

Exactly.

[@_Wombat]

I appreciate how the comments always contain a bunch of people who are obvious fans of the topic at hand. I learn a bunch of extra fun stuff, just from the comments!

[@bemeek]

I saw the replica of the Dunk at the Tellis Science Museum in Georgia, U.S. Easily one of my favorite organisms.

[@brandontankersley8107]

I've been to the same museum a few times. I love that monster.

[@momadogy]

I grew up in Cleveland. Not only is our Natural History Museum where the original is on display, but I've waded in the river beneath the cliffs it was found in. Odd, to think where I live was once a sea.

[@marclytle644]

Thank you, I just added another museum/aquarium to my wish list. If I am ever in Georgia I will see about heading to Tellis Science Museum. Already want to see the Atlanta Aquarium.

[@juanjoyaborja.3054]

Placoderms were the most dominant animals during the Devonian. They filled almost every niche, and modern day ray-finned fish and cartilaginous fish only became more diverse thanks to their extinction. Dunkleosteus is a clear example of how dominant the placoderms were.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

Dominance and diversity are not very closely linked. Diversity is most affected by how long the group has been alive, the areas they can live in, and breeding rate e.g there are more non-avian reptile species than mammalian ones and rodents make up a giant chunk of Euthreians. Bonus points if you are a beetle.

[@WaterShowsProd]

@@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana As I started reading your comment my immediate thought was that beetles are a premiere example.

[@ncuco]

Neither is dominance nor diversity a sign of a "more evolved" species. On the other hand, it seems the dominance of species can hold back certain groups, that eventually flourish once they go extinct. Who knows, maybe our extinction will lead the the rise of cetacean or bird people in a few million years xD

[@juanjoyaborja.3054]

Where tf is the 4th comment

[@Someone-hd2vu]

More modern fish are descended from placoderm ancestors though, so in a sense they still are dominant...

[@carbon_no6]

Dunkleosteus - would be an IMMEDIATE and PERMANENT reason to never swim in a place that it likely would’ve been.. that’s not to discount other predators as harmless, but those jaws were menacing.

[@blockednostril9739]

If a pair of bolt cutters was a fish..it was Dunkle 😂 they do look terrifying but I’d love to have seen one

[@_Solaris]

...and, if I heard correctly, they seemed somewhat indiscriminate in their eating habits 😳

[@juanjoyaborja.3054]

@@_Solaris Yeah, one of the earliest cannibals.

[@EternalEmperorofZakuul]

Imagine a survival horror movie with dunkleosteus as the predator. But make it act like a animal than a evil animal

[@solsoman102]

you MAKE a VERY good POINT

[@dersitzpinkler2027]

Wow. It sounds like 400 million years ago, getting dunked on was much more serious

[@Empr4evr]

Yep, getting dunked 400 million years ago meant losing much more than just a playoff game. It was more like Super Smash Bros. sudden death round.

[@user-rz9vs2os2r]

Fish won the early evolutionary race with invertebrates cause they chose to be strong from inside. Rather than having exoskeleton they had vertebrate which had a huge advantage back then. Eventually creating us. Kudos to our fish ancestors.

[@stefanostokatlidis4861]

Fish head still exoskeletons at that point of time though.

[@toserveman9317]

"they chose to be strong from inside." eyeroll ...Inversion of *logical* determinism. Freewill is a "useful fiction." Thus "agency" isn't real; Inversion of *logical* determinism..

[@joperamod5760]

@@stefanostokatlidis4861 That is just armor.

[@stefanostokatlidis4861]

@@joperamod5760 it has the same effect though.

[@stefanostokatlidis4861]

@Atropus Arbaalish every armor has been called an exoskeleton sometime. If it is a rigid structure outside the main body, then it can be called an exoskeleton.

[@violetlight1548]

My little boy loves an Octonauts book about a "giant goldfish", actually a Dunkleosteus, that survived to the modern day, as well as a hidden underground ocean of giant prehistoric marine animals. Cool to see "Dunkie" getting some love here :)

[@chheinrich8486]

An octonauts Book about extinct animals🤨 would,love to See that

[@iwasadeum]

One of my all-time favorite animals to have existed. I became enamored with it after seeing the skull they have at the Denver Museum at the entrance of the "ancient sea life" exhibit when I was a wee lad. The fact that animals had to literally evolve jaws is just fascinating to me.

[@S-T-E-V-E]

I'm a total Dunkleosteus fanboy! Such fascinating animals!

[@concept5631]

Same

[@tijanamilenkovic3425]

​@@concept5631 dunkleosteus is Frank McGrath of placoderms 🦷💪💪

[@Delta-ei7im]

You feeling okay rn?

[@vratti2236]

@@Delta-ei7im ?

[@frostyglass3738]

Waited for his soothing voice for a while, fact that he also talks about stuff I liked since I was a kid

[@theussr5459]

Ikr his voice is just 🤌🤌

[@Xnaut314]

In some ways, placoderms are a lot like the dinosaurs in regard to their role in the environment of their time. Their rise marked the beginning of a geologic era, their diversity exploded during said era and shaped the rest of the biosphere around their dominance, and then suddenly vanished all at once to mark the end of their era. It's just a shame that while dinosaurs are very well understood by science and the public, the placoderms are as equally obscure just because their fish and therefore "not cool enough". Placoderms really need more recognition from both the mass public and the paleontology field.

[@charlestonho6733]

Some of placoderm evolve into bony fish and cartilagous fish

[@EternalEmperorofZakuul]

Just give them movies like dinosaurs got Jurassic Park

[@johnelliott7850]

@@EternalEmperorofZakuul 'Devonian Park'?

[@EternalEmperorofZakuul]

@@johnelliott7850 yeah, but as an undersea park

[@Flugs0]

"not cool enough" well they're also just much less diverse than dinosaurs so there's less to learn about them

[@davidegaruti2582]

Dunkleosteus is an animal i think should be appreciated more : its from a really intresting time in earth history where life was expanding and where chordates where beginning to carve out nieches for themselves , Also i would be lying if i didn't say that it looks extremely awsome : it's a large fish with a bony head and a large beaked mouth for crashing fish , It absolutely screams primeval and defo looks like a kind of relic from the paleozoic , I would defo watch a whole documentary like whale killer , following a dunkleosteus mother and her sons in a changing ocean ...

[@danieldevito6380]

I believe Dunkleosteus definitely gets the recognition it deserves. There are COUNTLESS videos about the Dunkleosteus on KZbin and is one of the most talked about ancient fish. Go to the search bar and just type "Dunkleosteus" and watch how many videos pop up.

[@mechwarrior13]

That jaw makes alligator snapping turtles look like little kittens

[@SharkNinjaBlueStar]

Dunkleosteus is such an awesome animal, definitely one of my favorite extinct species. I mean, it's a friggin fish the size of an orca with a head made of armor and giant bolt cutters for a mouth.

[@purplehaze2358]

Ever since I watched _Chased By Sea Monsters,_ Dunkleosteus has been one of my favorite non-dinosaurian prehistoric animals.

[@Rhiannonganon]

Your narration combined with the chilled music is so relaxing, I love the fact I can chill and learn at the same time! Excellent work, keep em comin' 🥰🥰🥰

[@daemon2426]

MAY THE ALGORITHM BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR!!!

[@nelsonmeier7861]

Your voice is so relaxing

[@brandonm8920]

Good to see Moth again, always nice watching these videos.

[@AifDaimon]

Finally, a brand new Moth Light Media video

[@bjd1980]

I hope everything is ok - seems like you went from biweekly videos to monthly. Love your content so very much!

[@--Paws--]

I still find it interesting that the lungfish has the similar jaw/mouth of dunkelosteus.

[@aaronlaluzerne6639]

Dunkleosteus was also made into a boss in the vudeo game Darius Burst Chronicle Saviours named Gigantic Bite.

[@UnwantedGhost1]

The only other animal I could even think of having similar jaws to Dunkleosteus are the Thylacoleo. AKA Marsupial Lion.

[@AwesomeDemomanGaming]

Thankfully, we have a living example the snapping turtle

[@UnwantedGhost1]

@@AwesomeDemomanGaming Hope they don't go extinct by the end of this century, thanks to humanity.

[@UnwantedGhost1]

@Atropus Arbaalish Hyenas are also land animals.

[@UnwantedGhost1]

@Atropus Arbaalish By the way, I never said Dunkleosteus had teeth.

[@tijanamilenkovic3425]

​@@AwesomeDemomanGaming if you are guy it can bite off nuts 🥥🥥♂️

[@evilershark_2043]

Fish imo are one of the most underrated and underestimated animals on earth

[@juanjoyaborja.3054]

What tf are you talking about

[@robwalsh9843]

An armored bus-sized fish with bony blades instead of teeth sounds like something out of a Dungeons & Dragons monster manual.

[@babute21]

I love this channel, its so relaxing 🤩

[@CaspiRose99]

Im a simple creature I see dunkleosteus I click

[@JG-zs8tr]

5:32 That’s a face only a mother could love.

[@spitezor]

I love your narration, the calm music, etc.

[@CHRB-nn6qp]

no joke, i watch your videos every night to help me relax before sleep.

[@edwardfischer2628]

It always makes my day When i see an upload from you, keep up the good work!!

[@genghiskhan6809]

Is it bad I’m wondering what alot of these ancient fish would’ve tasted like?

[@jamesharmer9293]

No!

[@juanjoyaborja.3054]

Placoderm Cajun sounds like a good dish

[@sassa82]

Yes, very bad. Your naughty.

[@optillian4182]

Fishy.

[@LudwigVaanArthans]

Thank you for your hardwork Keep up the good work!

[@Redneckkratos]

F in chats for them butchering our boy Dunkleosteus’ size…..

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

Ever so pleasant and very informative. Thank you very much for the video.

[@anjairis]

The number of years ago is just ridiculous when you think about it. It's kind of like trying to wrap your head around how big the sun is compared to this planet we're on. Then trying to imagine the really big stars out there that makes the sun look like a pebble :S gdamn silly!

[@chheinrich8486]

Finally, a placoderm video

[@indyreno2933]

The placoderms (class Placodermata) are the most basal known jawed vertebrates, the Acanthodians (class Acanthodii) are only more derived than the placoderms but are basal to all other jawed vertebrates, there are six living classes of fish, Myxini (Hagfish and Fossil Relatives), Petromyzontida (Lampreys and Fossil Relatives), Holocephali (Chimaeras and Fossil Relatives), Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Batoids), Actinopterygii (Ray-Finned Fish), and Sarcopterygii (Lobe-Finned Fish), fish as a whole are a paraphyletic group as the class Sarcopterygii is more closely related to the tetrapods (clade Tetrapoda) than to the other five extant fish classes, it was formerly believed that fish are considered three classes (Cyclostomata, Chondrichthyes, and Osteichthyes), however all three groups are actually paraphyletic, mainly because jawed vertebrates are descended from jawless fish, thus more closely relating the class Petromyzontida to the clade Gnathstomata than to the class Myxini, bony vertebrates are descended from cartilaginous fish thus more closely relating the class Elasmobranchii to the clade Euteleostomi than to the class Holocephali, tetrapods are descended from bony fish thus more closely relating the class Sarcopterygii to the clade Tetrapoda than to the class Actinopterygii.

[@xevious1538]

Chondrichthyes are monophyletic, and I haven't seen anything that suggested that we are more related to sharks and rays than to chimaeras. Though you are right on lobbed finned fish like Coelacanths and lungfish being more closely related to us than to ray finned fish. And lungfish being more closely related to us than Coelacanths.

[@indyreno2933]

Chondrichthyes is more likely paraphyletic because it does not include the clade Euteleostomi (Bony Vertebrates) which is more closely related to Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Batoids) than it is to Holocephali (Chimaeras and Fossil Relatives), therefore Holocephali and Elasmobranchii are treated as separate classes, vertebrate phylogeny Vertebrata (Myxini + Euvertebrata (Petromyzontida + Gnathstomata (Placodermata + Eugnathstomata (Acanthodii + Neognathstomata (Holocephali + Teleostomi (Elasmobranchii + Euteleostomi (Actinopterygii + Neoteleostomi (Sarcopterygii + Tetrapoda (Amphibia + Amniota (Theropsida (Mammalia) + Sauropsida (Reptilia + Aves)))))))))), therefore there would actually be ten extant classes of vertebrates, Myxini (Hagfish and Fossil Relatives), Petromyzontida (Lampreys and Fossil Relatives), Holocephali (Chimaeras and Fossil Relatives), Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Batoids), Actinopterygii (Ray-Finned Fish), Sarcopterygii (Lobe-Finned Fish), Amphibia (Amphibians), Reptilia (Reptiles), Aves (Birds), and Mammalia (Mammals).

[@xevious1538]

@@indyreno2933 I can't find anything that suggests Elasmobranchii is more closely related to eutelostomi than they are to holocephali. Everything I find suggests Holocephali and elasmobranchii are more closely related to eachother (in the clade chondrychthyes) than to eutelostomi. And current evidence suggest that Chondrychthyes are a clade of acanthodii, and that both acanthodii and eutelostomi form a clade eugnathostoma inside the Placodem (or gnathostome clade), closely related to entelognathus, minijinia, and janusiscus. It also seems the cartilage skeleton in Chrondrichthyes evolved from bony ancestors and not the other way around.

[@indyreno2933]

Actually, the extinct acanthodians are only more derived than the extinct placoderms but are basal to all living jawed vertebrates, therefore they are distantly related to any living jawed vertebrate, also Chondrichthyes is not monophyletic, it is paraphyletic, Neognathstomata includes all living jawed vertebrates, the class Holocephali (Chimaeras and Fossil Relatives) is the most basal within here, the resurrected clade Teleostomi now includes the class Elasmobranchii (Sharks and Batoids) as the sister group to the clade Euteleostomi (Bony Vertebrates) to the exclusion of Holocephali, interestingly, within the clade Euteleostomi, the clade Neoteleostomi includes the class Sarcopterygii (Lobe-Finned Fish) and the clade Tetrapoda (Tetrapods) while Actinopterygii (Ray-Finned Fish) is basal to Neoteleostomi, so basically, bony vertebrates are descended from cartilaginous fish, jawed vertebrates are descended from jawless fish, and tetrapods are descended from bony fish, the clade Teleostomi (Higher Jawed Vertebrates) includes all living jawed vertebrates except for chimaeras.

[@einienj3281]

This is one of my favorites! Thank You!

[@Gaarafan007]

A commenter on the Ray video mentioned thinking Manta Ray's were like 6 feet all their lives until they saw the video and realized how large they were. I just had a similar experience in regards to Dunkleosteus; I always imagined it to be roughly the size of mid-sized sharks or dolphins only to watch this video and learn they were comparable to Orcas. Everything in the ocean is so much bigger that you'd think from watching nature documentaries.

[@arc7375]

You need to update this. Dunkleosteus is now considered to have been only three meters long, and piranha-shaped, rather than orca-shaped.

[@PooGEr97]

I've been anticipating this video for a while, thank youuu.

[@ronaldcatullus]

Ah, so this is how Dunkey first got started

[@MichaelB07]

Let me guess... you play Hungry Shark Evolution

[@sassa82]

Great video as always!

[@angelalewis3645]

Super well explained!

[@gogogomez51]

Many features that we associate with many/most vertebrates can find their origins within the placoderns. From pelvic fins that would give rise to hindlimbs, the earliest evidence of internal fertilization, and of course the ability to bite and some members even possessing teeth we actually owe quite alot to these armoured fish from ages past.

[@justoliver77]

Fascinating video, love the Placoderms, very interesting group of prehistoric fish!

[@aprostateprofit7459]

Your voice is perfect for ASMR...

[@bunlocke]

I saw this notification and it made my day.

[@Argonwolfproject]

The only thing better than getting all this sweet evolutionary biological education is getting it while watching the automatically generated subtitles try (and fail) to spell Dunkleosteus over and over again.

[@Cryovenator]

Cool fibsh

[@nektarios5291]

Always good videos, but it'd be great if they were longer

[@goldennugget2562]

Been waiting for this one

[@brooklyn113]

The concept drawings in combination with the music and your voice is so relaxing.

[@ArleneDKatz]

Thank you. Well done

[@badnewsbridger]

Great video, love the channel, but the audio always comes though so quiet that I get absolutely blasted by the next video I watch.

[@atomicwinter31]

There's a theory that the dunkleostus' most notable trait is actually just a result of the shrink wrapping phenomenon, and might have had big ass lips. I find it very funny that there's the possibility that this scary tank fish could have had big ol smoochers.

[@tijanamilenkovic3425]

That would be hillarious 💋🦷

[@Bigazoa11]

yay another new video

[@vassa1972]

Great video

[@dyslexiusmaximus]

Loved this thanks

[@kimbratton9620]

You have such amazing content!!!😁

[@donaldstraitiff7827]

I was under the impression that scientists currently think that modern fish; cartilaginous, ray finned, and lobe finned; possibly evolved from placoderms.

[@Dragrath1]

Yeah there is building evidence for either that or placoderms not being monophyletic

[@HDitzzDH]

I remember seeing this fish on BBC’s Sea Monsters (A Walking With Dinosaurs) around 2005.

[@demos113]

Good work. 🙂

[@cabynet7124]

What an amazing channel

[@stax6092]

Super Cool.

[@martinbadoy5827]

5:32 Those jaws look like they were designed by a heavy metal band :p

[@Clevertank-LL]

Yay more moth light

[@mathsmanm2880]

Loved this one

[@deanostanley8530]

Great content

[@vilisveidis]

Hello MLM! I love your videos for their conciseness while still delivering new and interesting facts or theories to the table! If I may suggest a topic for a future video; Amber! I have Baltic heritage, and for milennia the old Baltic tribes exported exquisite amber pieces, traveling so far as the Romans and quite possibly into the Near East of antiquity. My question is simple; besides going over the basic nature of how amber is formed and the paleological finds from such specimens, are there any hypotheses on why amber began forming? As in, was there a certain climate necessary for amber creation; is amber only able to come from more "modern" saps, as in trees and tree-like organisms originally couldnt create the sap needed for amber; could there even have been an ancient organism (like a fungus or an ancient animal occupying the current wiodepecker niche) that caused these sap droplets to form and coalesce; was there a certain time period where amber creation was prevalent OR sparse? I would love to hear back from you on the viability of such a project!!

[@petermallia558]

Plus the fish with armoured heads also probably turned the tables on the sea scorpions by eating them using their armoured shell cracking jaws. The crazy weird thing about those fish that developed a lung from and that later became a swim bladder for modern fish, before some became amphibians, without that bony armoured head, we wouldn't even be here as humans as some research suggests. It's like it was put there by someone knowing it would lead to a very Smart little mammals like reptiles before becoming mammals that have an intelligent complex brain, a species like humans that would later take over the earth as the top predatory species, well most of us anyways.

[@Zach-ku6eu]

Please update your channel's playlist.

[@LDrosophila]

interesting video

[@lombardmordesian]

Dunkleosteus became smoll

[@duncanself5111]

Great name!

[@brennanlangless8912]

The placoderms might have also been eating the free swimming invertebrates similar to trigger fish manta rays and other modern invertebrate eaters

[@freedomfirst5557]

I wonder, how many uncoutable worlds are in their early states, in their "dinosaur" ages? If the universe is infinite, then we can't even come up with a number.

[@federicoreyes8836]

Dunkleosteus was the original Fish “tank”

[@fuffoon]

Its amazing how scientists learned the names of these creatures.

[@cholulahotsauce6166]

Whut

[@Facebooker413]

I love Dunkleosteus

[@johanliebert6785]

Please add subtitles for non-native speakers. That would be super nice and helpful!

[@CosmicShieldMaiden]

I read it as drunkasaurus 😂

[@mikeyd946]

Perfect 👍🏻

[@brianedwards7142]

Placoderms are okay but I like the Ink Spots.

[@robrice7246]

5:11 "This is what we came for."

[@approximateCognition]

Armoured Guillotine-fish go brrrrr

[@Frogboyaidan]

Ok this is cool

[@travhammer]

The speed of their jaws were a high-speed shirring effect as fish were yet to chew, only recently acquiring jaws.

[@hyunsung32]

So the denovian was basically prehistoric medival times

[@juanjoyaborja.3054]

Golden age of fish

[@argylemanni280]

Apex predators, bay-bee

[@26446z]

AEW, YA

[@alexanderpovey1973]

What music do you use?

[@bruceswinford4901]

The virgin jawless fish vs the chad placoderm

[@CaspiRose99]

Also notif gang

[@jakejake708]

A killer whale sized fish with a beak,#1 reason to never travel back in time

[@TheSagerider]

Every time a time line is presented I find myself amazed at what has transpired in the past 500 million years. Our solar system is some 4.5 billion yeas old so it took about 4 billion years to have these types of creatures alive and swimming in the oceans. Only 65 million yeas ago dinosaurs were everywhere and existed for some 140 million years or so. Humans are new comers on the scene. We all could very well pass away into the wash of time as a side note, a reference note at the bottom of a page in the book of the Earth, third planet from a very minor insignificant star.

[@Dr.IanPlect]

Dinosaurs are everywhere today.

[@magako_v.3]

What a great sushi that fish would make...

[@sabnox9869]

A bottle of cider helps take the edge off.