During the “Age of
Fishes” (about 360 million years ago), Dunkleosteus
ruthlessly ruled the oceans. Constantly searching for prey, this huge armored
Fish patrolled the shallow seas of the Devonian. Finding an unlucky Fish, Dunkleosteus would then shear his victim
in half with his huge jaws. After ripping
out the meat, He would gulp huge chunks of it down whole. What He could not digest, Dunkleosteus spat out onto the ocean
floor.
For
ten million years, Dunkleosteus was
the apex predator, eating everyone He encountered. Weighing 4 tons (3.6 metric tons) and 33 feet
long (10 meters), He naturally dominated the Devonian oceans. Moreover, Dunkleosteus
grew armored plates all over his head and the front part of his body. Furthermore, his eyes were set inside four
pieces of bone for more protection. His fearsome
“teeth” were actually ragged extensions of his jawbone, which grew out and
became sharp at the ends. To hunt his
prey, Dunkleosteus would create a
vacuum, and then suck in his prey, before snapping his jaws shut. In fact, this
formable Fish had a stronger bite power than a T. rex.
Fortunately
for the other animals, the reign of terror of Dunkleosteus only lasted ten million years. His Class of Fish – the Placoderms (the armored
Fish) became extinct about the end of the Devonian period. They were the only class of vertebrates to do
so. With all their formable armor, these
Fish could not outlast the more nimble Sharks or Boney Fish, who still exist
today. When the sea changed and mass extinctions occurred, Dunkleosteus could not survive.
Unbridled power is what Dunkleosteus teaches. This heavily-armored Fish with his body armor
terrorized all the other animals. In
fact, fossil evidence shows that He even ate his own kind, hence no one was safe
from Him. Such a predator could not rely
on anyone else for help, since everyone was food, including the other Dunkleosteus, who also regarded Him as
food as well. With his unbridled power
came a feeling of vulnerability because He had to be on guard at all
times. We can learn from Dunkleosteus, the cost of the ruthless
use of power. In the end, his reckless
use of power caused Him to go extinct. From
Dunkleosteus’ example, we are urged
to judicially use our power.
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