Fossil Profile: Great Flattashark

 

Flattacanths evolved for a benthic lifestyle, but this did not mean that’s all they could ever do. Due to the predatorial Flattacanths’ influence on their ecosystems, more and more prey items became skittish of the bottom, causing the Flattacanths to often have swim their prey down.
Some of those Flattacanths made swimming their main hunting style. Due to the arrangement of their fins, these Flattacanths didn’t use their tail to swim. This however gave them a keen advantage over other, more regular fish, with them being able to use 6 fins at once for propulsion.
These Flattacanths would become known as the “Omniswimmers”.
Some of these took their free swimming lifestyle to another level when they became active predators. Known as the “Flattasharks” of the family Omninectidae, these fish quickly became the apex predators of the seas around 240 million Eryobian years ago.
As a result, many of them became de-flattened and more cylindrical to better move through the water
Pictured above is the Great Flattashark, one of the biggest predators of its time. This Flattashark is a picky eater, hunting only for big fish which it shreads apart with its 6 inch long teeth.