Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
438 / Paleozoic
Rhizodus
Rhizodus hibberti
Huge conical teeth armed a multi-meter freshwater lobe-finned predator.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 330–300 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Carboniferous
- Geographic range
- Large freshwater lakes and rivers · Europe
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Rhizodus?
Rhizodus (Rhizodus hibberti) was an extinct organism known from About 330–300 million years ago, with a range in Large freshwater lakes and rivers · Europe.
Life and ecology
Rhizodus ambushed fish and perhaps small tetrapods near the water's edge.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Rhizodus disappear?
Freshwater turnover near the end of the Carboniferous is possible context; the fossil record does not establish a specific cause.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Rhizodus?
Jaws, giant teeth, scales and skeletal pieces constrain its size.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS