Conodont

Conodonts were extinct marine vertebrates known chiefly from microscopic, phosphate-rich elements used for feeding. Their fossils span the Late Cambrian to the end of the Triassic.

Conodont element: A microscopic phosphate-rich fossil formed from the tooth-like feeding apparatus of a conodont. These durable elements are the fossils most commonly used to identify conodonts.
Conodont element function: The roles conodont elements played in grasping, cutting, or processing food. Different element shapes and wear patterns support reconstructions of feeding.
Conodont biostratigraphy: The use of conodont fossil distributions to correlate and relatively date sedimentary rock layers. Rapid evolutionary changes in conodonts provide finely resolved fossil zones.
Conodont fossil record: The geological record of conodont elements and rare body fossils from the Late Cambrian through the Triassic. Its long duration documents the group's origins, diversification, and disappearance.
Promissum: An extinct conodont genus known from exceptionally preserved body fossils in South Africa. Its fossils preserve a near-complete animal rather than isolated elements alone.
Conodont animal: The soft-bodied vertebrate that produced conodont elements; rare fossils preserve its body. Body fossils reveal the animal behind the isolated elements.
Conodont element wear: Microscopic damage and surface polish preserved on conodont elements during use. Wear provides direct clues to how elements interacted with food.
Conodont biozonation: A subdivision of rock sequences into zones defined by conodont species or evolutionary events. Biozones turn conodont appearances and disappearances into a practical correlation scheme.
Late Cambrian: The final epoch of the Cambrian Period, lasting roughly from 497 to 485 million years ago. The earliest known conodont elements occur in Late Cambrian rocks.
Burgess Shale: A Middle Cambrian fossil deposit in British Columbia renowned for exceptionally preserved soft-bodied organisms. Burgess Shale fossils helped establish that conodonts were vertebrate animals.

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