The first and most common mistake artists make when drawing Dunkleosteus is mistaking its bones for armor. As cool as the mental image of an armor-plated hyperpredatory fish is, it isn't realistic Dunkleosteus had flesh on the outside of its impressive bones, just like any fish you'd see today. Secondly, lots of artists mess up when constructing Dunkleosteus's body shape. Many of them reference Coccosteus, a related placoderm fish. This is a fine baseline, but should be taken as a grain of salt. Coccosteus was a small freshwater animal that probably never got bigger than a little over a foot long. drawings not to scale Like its relative Coccosteus, Dunkleosteus also had large, healthy fins. It probably had a big dorsal fin and a lunate (crescent shaped, two lobed) tail, much like other pelagic apex predators today. In contrast, Dunkleosteus was a giant, open-ocean dwelling apex predator that reached lengths of up to 28 feet, and the two animals' radically different ecological niches demanded very different body plans. It's worth noting that Dunkleosteus's pectoral fin radials indicate that the fins would have had a wide range of motion and were likely actively utilized in steering while swimming. anterior It's more appropriate to look to other animals with similar ecological niches for inspiration. Sharks and toothed whales like Orcas are a good place to start! Additionally, many people tend to "shrinkwrap" Dunkleosteus's fins. This is also probably due to Coccosteus, who many paleoartists assume had small fins due to its incomplete preservation and apply the same logic to Dunkleosteus. It's also worth noting that Dunkleosteus had a heterocercal tail. This means that its spine goes all the way up into the upper lobe. Art credit to Nobu Tamura However, the ceratotrichia (the fibers that make up the bulk of the fins in Placoderms like Dunkleosteus and cartilaginous fishes like sharks) weren't preserved, giving the illusion that they had smaller fins than they really did. Coccosteus's fins probably looked more like this! Another thing worth mentioning about Dunkleosteus is that it would not have had visible fin rays. Some paleoartists reconstruct Dunkleosteus with an eel- like, undulating single lobed tail based off some interpretations of Coccosteus and other related, small fish. However, this kind of tail wouldn't fit Dunkleosteus's niche as a fast-moving apex predator, and would actively inhibit its ability to swim fast and catch prey. This means that Dunkleosteus pectoral fins were probably large, broad and slightly rounded as opposed to sharp and bladelike. This can be inferred from other placoderms with preserved bodies It can also be seen in living fishes like sharks and sturgeons. As briefly discussed earlier, Dunkleosteus and other placoderms have been preserved with ceratotrichia in their fins, a structure that makes up the fins of cartilaginous fish like sharks. Like sharks, its fins would look smooth with no visible lines/rays. The last thing I can think of anatomy-wise is that Dunkleosteus had very small eyes and pupils. This bit right here isn't the animal's eye. It's its sclerotic ring, a ring of bone found in many non-mammalian vertebrates that holds the eye in place. As for coloration, Dunkleosteus was probably countershaded. Many aquatic animals are. + || Evenly-shaded cylindrical animal is easy to see, with self-shadowing on its edges Countershading darkens the back and lightens the belly... Counter shaded cylindrical animal appears flat, with self-shadowing hidden We know that placoderms like Dunkleosteus were no exception to this-the small placoderm Groenlandaspis was red on top and a silvery-white on the bottom. Other than this, go crazy. Try to take inspiration from extant animals that fill similar niches to Dunkleosteus. For example, I based this reconstruction off tiger sharks. The hole in the middle of the sclerotic ring I highlighted in blue is the actual size of the eye. Also, the sclerotic rings wouldn't be visible under the skin. X See the stripes in this goldfish's fins? These are rays, a trait exclusive to the superclass Osteichthyes (bony fishes), a group that does not include Dunkleosteus.

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Paleontology - Dunkleosteus drawing guide

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The first and most common mistake artists make when drawing Dunkleosteus is mistaking its bones for armor. As cool as the mental image of an armor-plated hyperpredatory fish is, it isn't realistic Dunkleosteus had flesh on the outside of its impressive bones, just like any fish you'd see today. Secondly, lots of artists mess up when constructing Dunkleosteus's body shape. Many of them reference Coccosteus, a related placoderm fish. This is a fine baseline, but should be taken as a grain of salt. Coccosteus was a small freshwater animal that probably never got bigger than a little over a foot long. drawings not to scale Like its relative Coccosteus, Dunkleosteus also had large, healthy fins. It probably had a big dorsal fin and a lunate (crescent shaped, two lobed) tail, much like other pelagic apex predators today. In contrast, Dunkleosteus was a giant, open-ocean dwelling apex predator that reached lengths of up to 28 feet, and the two animals' radically different ecological niches demanded very different body plans. It's worth noting that Dunkleosteus's pectoral fin radials indicate that the fins would have had a wide range of motion and were likely actively utilized in steering while swimming. anterior It's more appropriate to look to other animals with similar ecological niches for inspiration. Sharks and toothed whales like Orcas are a good place to start! Additionally, many people tend to "shrinkwrap" Dunkleosteus's fins. This is also probably due to Coccosteus, who many paleoartists assume had small fins due to its incomplete preservation and apply the same logic to Dunkleosteus. It's also worth noting that Dunkleosteus had a heterocercal tail. This means that its spine goes all the way up into the upper lobe. Art credit to Nobu Tamura However, the ceratotrichia (the fibers that make up the bulk of the fins in Placoderms like Dunkleosteus and cartilaginous fishes like sharks) weren't preserved, giving the illusion that they had smaller fins than they really did. Coccosteus's fins probably looked more like this! Another thing worth mentioning about Dunkleosteus is that it would not have had visible fin rays. Some paleoartists reconstruct Dunkleosteus with an eel- like, undulating single lobed tail based off some interpretations of Coccosteus and other related, small fish. However, this kind of tail wouldn't fit Dunkleosteus's niche as a fast-moving apex predator, and would actively inhibit its ability to swim fast and catch prey. This means that Dunkleosteus pectoral fins were probably large, broad and slightly rounded as opposed to sharp and bladelike. This can be inferred from other placoderms with preserved bodies It can also be seen in living fishes like sharks and sturgeons. As briefly discussed earlier, Dunkleosteus and other placoderms have been preserved with ceratotrichia in their fins, a structure that makes up the fins of cartilaginous fish like sharks. Like sharks, its fins would look smooth with no visible lines/rays. The last thing I can think of anatomy-wise is that Dunkleosteus had very small eyes and pupils. This bit right here isn't the animal's eye. It's its sclerotic ring, a ring of bone found in many non-mammalian vertebrates that holds the eye in place. As for coloration, Dunkleosteus was probably countershaded. Many aquatic animals are. + || Evenly-shaded cylindrical animal is easy to see, with self-shadowing on its edges Countershading darkens the back and lightens the belly... Counter shaded cylindrical animal appears flat, with self-shadowing hidden We know that placoderms like Dunkleosteus were no exception to this-the small placoderm Groenlandaspis was red on top and a silvery-white on the bottom. Other than this, go crazy. Try to take inspiration from extant animals that fill similar niches to Dunkleosteus. For example, I based this reconstruction off tiger sharks. The hole in the middle of the sclerotic ring I highlighted in blue is the actual size of the eye. Also, the sclerotic rings wouldn't be visible under the skin. X See the stripes in this goldfish's fins? These are rays, a trait exclusive to the superclass Osteichthyes (bony fishes), a group that does not include Dunkleosteus.

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