Name: Thrissops formosus
Age: Upper Jurassic
Size: mm (25.4mm=1 inch): ): 62 mm high, 250 mm in length on 388 mm by 223 mm matrix.
Location: Eichstatt, Germany
Code: EP005
Price: $450.00 - Sold
 Description:
This is a fine counterpart example of a swift-swimming predatory fish
from the lithographic limestone deposits of Eichstatt, Germany, known
as Thrissops formosus. These 150 million year old deposits are famous
for their exceptionally well-preserved organisms, the most famous
of which are the handful of specimens of the ancient bird Archaeopteryx.
That exceptional preservation is displayed here as well, down to the
wonderfully-preserved caudal fin. We know that the coloration of this
fish in life resembled the modern-day Striped Bass due to an exquisitely-preserved
specimen recently discovered. They congregated in shoals, and their
coloration served to camouflage individual specimens from predators
of their own. While the genus went extinct, they may be distantly-related
to the wolf herrings of the family Chirocentridae. |
