Ichthyolestes
| Ichthyolestes Temporal range: Early Eocene, circa | |
|---|---|
| Ichthyolestes life restoration, pencil drawing | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Suborder: | Whippomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Pakicetidae |
| Genus: | †Ichthyolestes Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg 1958 |
| Type species | |
| †Ichthyolestes pinfoldi | |
Ichthyolestes ("fish thief") is an extinct genus of archaic cetacean that was endemic to the northern Indian subcontinent during the Lutetian stage. To date, this monotypic genus is only represented by Ichthyolestes pinfoldi.
Like other members of the family Pakicetidae, which are considered the earliest and least specialized of the archaic cetaceans, Ichthyolestes represents an early quadrupedal phase of the land-to-sea transition which occurs in the cetacean lineage.