Fish of the Day 37 - I got that helicoprion in me

Today's fish of the day is the helicoprion! I believe this is my blog's first extinct fish?

Helicoprion facts:

- The helicoprion is a prehistoric fish who lived in the Permian-Triassic era, which went extinct around 225 million years ago. Millions of years later, this fish's skeleton would eventually confuse many scientists, and it's easy to see why!

The helicoprion's jaw looks like this, and originally scientists believed it was the shell of some sort of ancient mollusk. However, in the early 1900s, one scientist theorized it may be something entirely different. That doesn't mean he was right! Alexander Karpinsky, the scientist in question, thought the helicoprion had a giant curled snout. This changed peoples' perspectives completely, and for the next several years, multiple theories have been created: a curled dorsal fin, curled tail, even a curled, toothed tongue. However, only very recently have scientists come to the conclusion that the curled bone isn't actually visible from the outside of the fish's body.

The picture I used for this blog is, as of now, the most accurate reconstruction of the helicoprion. This version of it's appearance was agreed on in around 2013!

- This creature's jaw has a special name: a "tooth whorl"!

- The helicoprion may resemble a shark, but it's more closely related to chimaeras, another kind of shark-y looking fish...

- The helicoprion would've been around 20-25 feet long, earning it a spot among the biggest cartilaginous fish that lived in the sea. For reference, a normal great white shark is usually 11-13 feet long. Thats basically double the length!

I think it'd be real funny if people used animals as measurement. Like... im around the same length as 25% of a small helicoption. Or 1524 small coral polyps! Do the math!

OKay anyway do you got that helicoprion in you?