Ichthyolestes

Ichthyolestes
Temporal range: Early Eocene, circa
Ichthyolestes life restoration, pencil drawing
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Pakicetidae
Genus: †Ichthyolestes
Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg, 1958
Type species
†Ichthyolestes pinfoldi
Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg, 1958

Ichthyolestes (meaning "fish robber" from Ancient Greek ἰχθύς (ikhthús), meaning "fish", and λῃστής (lēistḗs), meaning "robber") is an extinct genus of pakicetid cetacean endemic to the northern Indian subcontinent during the Lutetian age of the Eocene. It is monotypic, with I. pinfoldi as the only species.

Similar to other pakicetids, which are considered the earliest and least specialized of the archaic cetaceans, Ichthyolestes represents an early quadrupedal phase in the land-to-sea transition in cetaceans.