conodont

co·no·dont  (kn-dnt, kn-)

n.

1. A member of an extinct group of small primitive fishlike chordates, preserved primarily in the form of their conelike teeth.

2. A fossil tooth of this chordate. Conodonts are the most widespread Paleozoic microfossils and are important for biostratigraphic indexing.

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[Greek knos, cone; see k- in Indo-European roots + -odont.]

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conodont  (kn-dnt, kn-)

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.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	conodont - the tiny fossil cone-shaped tooth of a primitive vertebrate of order Conodonta tooth - hard bonelike structures in the jaws of vertebrates; used for biting and chewing or for attack and defense
	2.	conodont - small (2 inches long) extinct eellike fish with a finned tail and a notochord and having cone-shaped teeth containing cellular bone; late Cambrian to late Triassic; possible predecessor of the cyclostomes agnathan, jawless fish, jawless vertebrate - eel-shaped vertebrate without jaws or paired appendages including the cyclostomes and some extinct forms Conodonta, Conodontophorida, order Conodonta, order Conodontophorida - extinct order of primitive vertebrates; the precise taxonomy is not clear; in some classifications considered a separate phylum