Thrissops

Thrissops (from Greek: θρῐ́ξ thrix, 'hair' and Greek: ὄψις ópsis 'look')[1] is an extinct genus of stem-teleost fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Its fossils are known from the Solnhofen Limestone,[2] as well as the Kimmeridge Clay.

Thrissops
Temporal range:
Thrissops formosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: †Ichthyodectiformes
Genus: †Thrissops
Agassiz, 1833

Thrissops was a fast predatory fish about 60 centimetres (24 in) long, that fed on other bony fish.[3] It had a streamlined body with a deeply cleft tail and only very small pelvic fins. Thrissops was one of the smaller members of the order Ichthyodectiformes, which also included giants like Xiphactinus and Saurodon.[4]

References
  1. Roberts, George (1839). An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. p. 171. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. Solnhofen und seine Fossilien: Thrissops Archived 2010-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Orvar Nybelin, "Versuch einer taxonomischen revision der jurassischen Fischgattung Thrissops Agassiz", Nature (1964)
  4. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 39. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.


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