Thrissops

Name: Thrissops.
Phonetic: Friss-ops.
Named By: Louis Agassiz‭ ‬-‭ ‬1833.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Actinopterygii,‭ ‬Osteoglossomorpha,‭ ‬Ichthyodectiformes,‭ ‬Ichthyodectidae.
Species: T.‭ ‬curtus,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬molossus.
Diet: Carnivore.Piscivore.
Size: About‭ ‬60‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: Europe and North Africa.
Time period: Late Jurassic to the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Many individuals.

       A smaller relative of the fearsome Xiphactinus,‭ ‬Thrissops would have still been a fearsome predator of smaller fish.‭ ‬The tail is deeply forked with the upper and lower lobes roughly equal in proportion to one another,‭ ‬a clear sign that the tail was capable of tremendous bursts of speed.‭ ‬It’s possible that Thrissops mostly initiated sudden bursts forward when closing in on a prey item,‭ ‬such as a single fish that had broken away from a shoal of prey that an individual and possibly other Thrissops were harassing.

Further reading
-‭ ‬The fossil fishes of the English Wealden and Purbeck Formations,‭ ‬Part III‭ ‬-‭ ‬A.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Woodward‭ ‬-‭ ‬1919.

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