Thrissops, the leopard fish

digital painting 2020

portrayed for the Jura Museum  /  also found in a larger scene

Thrissops is an early ichthyodectiform bony fish (stem-teleost), a group that flourished throughout the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous. Among the numerous localities of the “Solnhofen Archipelago”, the Ettling quarry yields such fish with an extraordinary colour preservation. Each of the dark spots is placed according to original fossils. A whole bunch of specimens is known, all less than half a metre in total length. The upturned mouth is indicative of a hunting method related to the water surface, most likely catching small fish. This dragonfly here was chosen to link the subaerial realm shared with pterosaurs and early birds.