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The dreaded chordate: Conodonta


IsaacTheFossilMan

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If you haven't read my 'about' on my profile, then... What are you doing? I'm the best person on this forum, duh, you should've memorised it by now(!) :angry:

 

Jokes aside, I love conodonts. The gorgeous little extinct wigglers that resemble eels... They're so common, that they're used as index fossils. What does that mean? People identify the age of fossils, based on conodont elements found with them... That's crazy! How does this work? Well, evolution changes animals over time, as you'll know, which means, due to the abundance, and date range of the specimen, you can work out age of sediments based on the morphology of the fossils... Pretty cool, huh!? And not even just that, as they're made out of apatite (not appetite :BigSmile:), the colour of the fossils can indicate the temperature of the fossils... Wow... Here's the Conodont Alteration Index (CAI), taken from CAI - Wikipedia:

Screenshot_20210217-155934.png.2a62e9426e10fd4a0f7ed79b115edcb8.png

Little fact here - conodonts first appeared in the Cambrian, about 540 mya (million years ago), and only went extinct yesterday. Uhm, sorry, let me check my notes on that - ah, in the early Jurassic / late Triassic, about 200 mya... Time flies, feels like it was last week the Mesozoic began!

 

Here's a nice reconstruction of one. You can see the similarities between them and eels, but, although my friend Daniel likes to annoy me by saying "Isaac likes extinct eels", they are not eels.

220px-Conodont_Hindeodus_Reconstruction.jpg.7d6575b2bbb0589277782d4b33b2d3d1.jpg

Notice the rather colourful array of teeth? Here's a full set:

Anterior-view-of-the-Idiognathodus-apparatus-model.thumb.png.29ebc70e6cbf6ce87c078f98930e5fcb.png

Looks like something out of a horror movie, huh? That's why I love 'em!

 

Oh, also, here's some nice papers that I'd recommend:

Overview of the conodont's history

Conodont skeletal morphology

 

Right, what was the point of this? Oh, yeah. Unfortunately (well, I say unfortunately, but it's a blessing), I get my material from the Cotswolds, in the south of England. If you've never heard of that, it's an incredibly famous area, famous for its Middle Jurassic oolitic limestone, abundant in microfossils. Have a link to everyone's favourite site's page on it Wikipedia - Cotswolds. Now, unfortunately, Middle Jurassic means that I can't get any of the little chordates... Ugh! Anyone care to share photos of their specimen, so I have a reason to cry? :(

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~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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3 hours ago, Mediospirifer said:

I have a few posts in my Gallery: LINK. Middle Devonian, North Evans limestone matrix.

 

Want some? :D

 

Ooohhhhh, very nice! I'm unsure if that's a serious question, if it is, my PMs are open ;)

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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PM sent! Yes, I was serious.

 

Here's a link to a thread I created when I found my first one: LINK. There are a few more in that thread than in my gallery. And I have a lot more that I haven't photographed yet!

 

I really should revisit the gallery and upload more images....

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11 hours ago, Mediospirifer said:

PM sent! Yes, I was serious.

 

Here's a link to a thread I created when I found my first one: LINK. There are a few more in that thread than in my gallery. And I have a lot more that I haven't photographed yet!

 

I really should revisit the gallery and upload more images....

Ooh, checking out the link, and your PM now, cheers!

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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So.................just got my scope/phototubes/camera and photostack software together this past week, though I've been finding conodonts for a couple years now....here's my first pic of a Pennsylvania stark shale (between Winterset and Bethany falls limestone) conodont. Not sure the species, but I'll trade yaa tentative i.d. for the pic! :) 

 

Bone

conodont2ab.jpg.564bf49037ec76f360e2508072d75bbe.jpg 

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My only conodont elements are from the Ordovician (Harding Sandstone, CO). I have a few more to pick out of the loose matrix, will get around to it one day. They're neat fossils, but very small, delicate, and difficult to handle.

 

IMG_0110.thumb.JPG.df843ffdfe8a4b0c38717e7b9abc19a5.JPG

 

IMG_0108.thumb.jpg.604bdac6ce4960ab8c69b2e917640df4.jpg

 

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"Argumentation cannot suffice for the discovery of new work, since the subtlety of Nature is greater many times than the subtlety of argument." - Carl Sagan

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." - Richard Feynman

 

Collections: Hell Creek Microsite | Hell Creek/Lance | Dinosaurs | Sharks | SquamatesPost Oak Creek | North Sulphur RiverLee Creek | Aguja | Permian | Devonian | Triassic | Harding Sandstone

Instagram: @thephysicist_tff

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7 hours ago, ThePhysicist said:

My only conodont elements are from the Ordovician (Harding Sandstone, CO). I have a few more to pick out of the loose matrix, will get around to it one day. They're neat fossils, but very small, delicate, and difficult to handle.

 

IMG_0110.thumb.JPG.df843ffdfe8a4b0c38717e7b9abc19a5.JPG

 

IMG_0108.thumb.jpg.604bdac6ce4960ab8c69b2e917640df4.jpg

 

Wow, they are gorgeous! :drool:

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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24 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

I also have a few from Penn Dixie which I've posted in my gallery.

Very nice!

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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