Have you seen Ohio’s official state fossil fish?

(WKBN) — Did you know Ohio has an official state fossil fish? The Ohio Department of Natural Resources goes in-depth on this extinct predator that could’ve once swam where Ohioans walk today.

Dunkleosteus terrelli, nicknamed the “Dunk” was the top predator near the end of the Devonian Period, known as the “Age of Fishes.”

The Dunk cruised the surface of a sea that once covered Ohio. At that time, Ohio was located about 30 degrees south of the Equator and submerged beneath an inland sea, according to ODNR.

The predator belonged to a now-extinct group of fishes called placoderms, or “plate skin” fish. Known for its fast bite, it might have eaten early sharks, bony fish, smaller placoderms, and ammonoids.

Many of the world’s best fossils of the Dunk were collected in northern Ohio from layers of black shale that geologists call the Cleveland Shale. Some of these fossils are on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The Dunkleosteus terrelli was designated as the fossil fish of Ohio in December 2022 .

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