Thrissops Formosus, fossil from the Upper Jurassic. Modified from photo by H. Zell*
February 1, 2025
Many years ago, I found myself face-to-face with a fish so lifelike I half expected it to swim off the museum wall. But this fish, Thrissops, had been fossilized for millions of years and was perfectly preserved in limestone.
As I admired its fine detail, a ridiculous thought popped into my head: “I could have cooked this, and I bet it would have been delicious.” (I suppose this tells you where my head is at, no matter what I’m doing at the time.) To be honest, the image of this fossil is so deeply lodged in my brain I haven’t cooked fish since without thinking about it.
It’s fair to say that Thrissops is off the menu, but cod—one of its evolutionary successors—makes a fine stand-in.
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