570 vanished lives

174Mesozoic

This giant bony fish opened a broad mouth and strained plankton through dense gill rakers, much like a whale shark.

316Mesozoic

Barbed teeth armed a long rostrum used to sense and sweep through bottom prey.

317Mesozoic

Its huge upturned mouth could swallow fish nearly half its own length.

318Mesozoic

Oversized palatine fangs made a modest fish into a formidable midwater hunter.

322Mesozoic

Broad crushing teeth paved its mouth for ammonites and shellfish.

439Mesozoic

A needle-like snout and slender body converged on modern barracudas.

440Mesozoic

Dorsal fin spines and two tooth shapes handled fish and hard-shelled prey.

442Mesozoic

A giant bony fish filtered plankton near the ocean surface.