| P number: | P549484 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Thrissops, a ray-finned fish from the Jurassic. Specimen GSM85802. |
| Description: | Thrissops was a member of the more advanced ray-finned fish, an early teleost. It lived in the seas of many places in Europe and fossils have been found in Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments of England, France and Germany. There may be one group of living fish related to Thrissops, the freshwater 'bony tongue' such as the pirarucu which lives in the rivers of South America. Thrissops grew up to about 60 cm. in length and once swam in the late Jurassic seas of southern England, about 145 million years ago. Although not seen in the specimen illustrated, Thrissops had a large symmetrical tail which enabled the fish to swim rapidly. It had small pelvic fins, but long anal fins, which were used to stabilise it. The pectoral fins were large as can be seen in the photograph. Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates with a braincase, fins for swimming and gills to take oxygen from the water (although some also have lungs). They therefore differ from other aquatic creatures like invertebrate molluscs or crabs; amphibians and reptiles, which have lungs and limbs rather than gills and fins; and whales and dolphins which are warm-blooded mammals. Fish are the first vertebrates, having evolved during the early Cambrian over 500 million years ago. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 540.37 KB; 1000 x 576 pixels; 85 x 49 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 152 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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