A prehistoric Dunkleosteus fish prepares to eat a primitive shark.

A prehistoric Dunkleosteus fish prepares to eat a primitive shark.

A 30-foot-long, four-ton hypercarnivorous apex predator of the species Dunkleosteus terrellix is about to make a meal of a six-foot-long primitive shark of the genus Cladoselache 370 million years ago in the Rheic Ocean near what is today North America. Dunkleosteus terrellix was one of the largest arthrodire placoderms ever to have lived. Nearly as long as a school bus, It was heavily armored and therefore likely a relatively slow, but powerful swimmer.. . There are four Cladoselache/primitive sharks in this image. The schooling fish are generic representatives of the class Actinopterygii, a sub-class of the bony fishes which emerged about 420 million years ago, while the sea jellies are generic representatives of the subphylum Medusozoa.

Album / Walter Myers/Stocktrek Images

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40.9 x 30.7 cm | 16.1 x 12.1 in (300 dpi)