FishDevonian
Dunkleosteus
Its head was armored and its jaws had unusual cutting surfaces.
Meet DunkleosteusExplore the prehistoric world
Prehistoric fish
Armoured heads, unusual jaws and fins with a place in the story of limbs. Explore the fishes of the prehistoric world.
17creatures in this group
3 game stages each
3 game stages each
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Meet the collection
Showing 1–17 of 17 creatures
Fish
FishCretaceous
Xiphactinus
Its fossils include finds from the southern and southwestern United States.
Meet Xiphactinus
FishPermian
Helicoprion
Its teeth formed a spiral in its lower jaw.
Meet Helicoprion
FishJurassic
Leedsichthys
It filtered small organisms from the water with specialized gill structures.
Meet Leedsichthys
FishNeogene
Otodus megalodon
Its size is estimated mainly from teeth, so the figures have uncertainty.
Meet Otodus megalodon
FishCarboniferous
Edestus
Edestus heinrichi was a cartilaginous fish with unusual tooth-bearing structures in its jaws.
Meet Edestus
FishLate Devonian
Tiktaalik
Tiktaalik combined a flattened fish-like head with a mobile neck and limb-like structures inside its paired fins.
Meet Tiktaalik
FishLate Devonian
Elpistostege
Elpistostege was a fish close to the origin of tetrapods, with an elongated body and a broad flattened skull.
Meet Elpistostege
FishLate Devonian
Panderichthys
Panderichthys had a flattened head and body outline that looks different from a conventional open-water fish.
Meet Panderichthys
FishLate Silurian
Entelognathus
Entelognathus was an armored jawed fish with a combination of facial bones important for understanding the origin of modern jaw structures.
Meet Entelognathus
FishLate Silurian
Qilinyu
Qilinyu was an armored fish whose jaws add evidence about early jawed vertebrate evolution.
Meet Qilinyu
FishLate Devonian and Carboniferous
Stethacanthus
Stethacanthus is known for the unusual anvil-shaped structure associated with the dorsal region of males.
Meet Stethacanthus
FishCarboniferous
Falcatus
Falcatus was a small shark-like fish with a distinctive forward-curving spine in known males.
Meet Falcatus
FishCarboniferous
Akmonistion
Akmonistion was a shark-like fish with an unusual dorsal structure and a distinctive head shape.
Meet Akmonistion
FishEarly Devonian
Gemuendina
Gemuendina was a flattened armored fish with a broad body and paired fins.
Meet Gemuendina
FishLate Devonian
Materpiscis
Materpiscis was an armored fish associated with remarkable fossil evidence of an embryo.
Meet Materpiscis
FishMiddle Triassic
Foreyia
Foreyia was an unusual coelacanth with an exaggerated head and body outline.
Meet ForeyiaA closer look at prehistoric fish
Prehistoric fish include many different branches of vertebrate life. Dunkleosteus was an armoured jawed fish; Megalodon was a shark. Helicoprion, famous for its spiral arrangement of teeth, belonged to a different branch of cartilaginous fishes. Similar outlines can hide very different anatomy.
Tiktaalik adds another part of the story. This lobe-finned fish combined fins with internal bones and joints relevant to the origin of limbs. Its fossils help researchers investigate the transition towards tetrapods; they do not identify it as the direct ancestor of every land animal.
Was Megalodon a dinosaur?
No. Megalodon was a shark. “Prehistoric fish” gathers fishes from different periods and lineages; it is not a dinosaur family or a single group of animals that all lived together.
Further reading: Natural History Museum: Prehistoric fish · Shubin and colleagues: Tiktaalik fins and the origin of limbs
AI-generated, stylized game illustrations. These designs and growth stages are imaginative, not scientific reconstructions. Open a profile for its fossil information and sources.