If you grew up in Cleveland, Ohio (as I did), and were a child who loved extinct animals in general and the local Museum of Natural History in particular (as I was), you know this guy. He’s Cleveland’s most famous local fossil, the giant Devonian predator fish called Dunkleosteus. We know him, we love him, we can still spell his name without looking it up.
This excellent life size reconstruction is one I’d never seen before I encountered it quite by surprise in a Metroparks nature center this past weekend. Ol’ Dunk might give you a bit of a turn if you weren’t expecting him, but he’s an old friend of mine and it was a genuine pleasure to see him looking so good.
If you want to know more about the Dunkleosteus, continue your virtual tour of the nature center in a park very near where many of the original fossils were found by clicking on this display of Dunkleosteus fun facts. (Also, if necessary for proof that I am not making any of this up, because I am hardly a good enough typesetter.)
And take a souvenir of your visit in the form of a vintage style posterized square Dunkleosteus image, suitable for use as an icon or avatar.
a cartoonist in Kekionga 