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THRISSOPS
(friss-ops)
Thrissops
Named By: Louis Agassiz in 1833
Time Period: Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous
Location: Europe and North Africa
Size: About 60 centimetres long
Diet: Carnivore.Piscivore
Fossil(s): Many individuals
Classification: | Chordata | Actinopterygii | Osteoglossomorpha | Ichthyodectiformes | Ichthyodectidae |
About

Thrissops is an extinct genus of teleost fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Its fossils are known from the Solnhofen limestone.

Thrissops were fast predatory fish about 60 centimetres (24 in) long, that fed on other bony fish. They had a streamlined body with a deeply cleft tail and only very small pelvic fins. Thrissops was related to the giant Xiphactinus and may have been an ancestor of the modern Osteoglossiformes, the most primitive group of living teleosts, which includes the arapaima.

Read more about Thrissops at Wikipedia
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