Thrissops

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

Thrissops (from Greek: θρῐ́ξ thrix, 'hair' and Greek: ὄψις ópsis 'look') is an extinct genus of stem-teleost fish from the Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian). Its fossils are known from the Solnhofen Limestone, as well as the Kimmeridge Clay.

Thrissops was a fast predatory fish about 60 centimetres (24 in) long, that fed on other bony fish. 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.