conodont

American  

[koh-nuh-dont, kon-uh-] / ˈkoʊ nəˌdɒnt, ˈkɒn ə- /

noun

1. a Paleozoic microfossil occurring in various jagged or toothlike shapes and constituting the hard remains of an extinct marine animal of the order Conodonta (or Conodontophorida), found abundantly worldwide in sedimentary rock.

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conodont British  

/ ˈkɒn-, ˈkəʊnədɒnt /

noun

1. any of various small Palaeozoic toothlike fossils derived from an extinct eel-like marine animal

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conodont Scientific  

/ kō′nə-dŏnt′,kŏn′ə- /

1. Any of various minute, toothlike or bladelike fossils made of the mineral apatite and dating from the Cambrian to the late Triassic Period. They are virtually the only preserved parts of extinct eellike animals that are now thought to have been primitive vertebrates similar to the modern hagfishes. Conodonts grew in paired assemblages in the head region of the animal and probably formed part of the feeding apparatus. They are the most widespread microfossils of the Paleozoic Era and are very important for determining the age of rock strata.

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Etymology

Origin of conodont

1855–60; < German Conodonten (plural) < Greek kôn ( os ) cone + -odont -odont

Example Sentences

When Typhloesus approached an undulating conodont, its tooth-covered tongue would emerge to scarf down its meal.

From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022

But a closer inspection revealed that the conodont remains were inside an animal’s digestive tract.

From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022

The vaguely fishlike critter was once believed to be a conodont, a jawless, eel-like vertebrate.

From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022

Scientists in the 1960s carried out a fundamental biostratigraphic correlation that tied Triassic conodont zonation into ammonoids, which are extinct ancient cousins of the pearly nautilus.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017