| Thrissops Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Thrissops formosus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | †Ichthyodectiformes |
| Genus: | †Thrissops Agassiz, 1833 |
Thrissops (from Greek: θρῐ́ξ thrix, 'hair' and Greek: ὄψις ópsis 'look')1 is an extinct genus of stem-teleost fish from the Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian).2 Its fossils are known from the Solnhofen Limestone,3 as well as the Kimmeridge Clay.
Thrissops was a fast predatory fish up to 90 centimetres (35 in) long,4 that fed on other bony fish.5 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 larger representatives like Xiphactinus and Saurodon.6
References
References
- 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.
- Cavin, Lionel; Piuz, André; Ferrante, Christophe; Guinot, Guillaume (2021-06-03). "Giant Mesozoic coelacanths (Osteichthyes, Actinistia) reveal high body size disparity decoupled from taxic diversity". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 11812. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1111812C. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-90962-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8175595. PMID 34083600.
- Solnhofen und seine Fossilien: Thrissops Archived 2010-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Ebert, Martin (2025-07-25). "New species of the genus Thrissops (Teleostei, Ichthyodectiformes) in the Upper Jurassic of the Solnhofen-Archipelago (Germany) and Kimmeridge Clay (England)". Zitteliana. 99: 1–32. doi:10.3897/zitteliana.99.159055. ISSN 2747-8106.
- Orvar Nybelin, "Versuch einer taxonomischen revision der jurassischen Fischgattung Thrissops Agassiz", Nature (1964)
- Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 39. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.