Wednesday, July 27, 2016

The Big Bang of July. (Paleozoic Era) Groenlandaspis

Groenlandaspis was first discovered in Greenland,‭ ‬but since this time individual specimens have been found from across Europe,‭ ‬Australia and Antarctica,‭ ‬indicating a possibly global distribution of this genus.‭ ‬Groenlandaspis was an arthrodire placoderm,‭ ‬which means that it had a jointed neck,‭ ‬something that allowed arthordire placoderms to open their mouths very‭ ‬wide.‭ ‬Famous members of the arthrodires include Dunkleosteus,‭ ‬but at seven and a half centimetres long,‭ ‬Groenlandaspis was not the hyper carnivore that Dunkleosteus was.‭ ‬Instead the jaw plates of Groenlandaspis were rounder and more suitable to crushing small invertebrates.‭ ‬This lead to the popular depiction of Groenlandaspis as a bottom feeder that searched through the mud and nooks in rocks looking for prey.

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