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Zhizn Zemli [Life of the Earth] 48, no 3

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Zhizn Zemli [Life of the Earth] 48, no 3

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DOI

10.29003/m5456.0514-7468.2026_48_3/447-456

EDN GCEYSY

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Authors:

Nazarova, V.M., Kononova, L.I.

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Keywords:

paleontology, conodonts, soft-body prints, anatomy, paleobiology, vertebrates, interpretations.
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pp. 447–456

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Nazarova V.M., Kononova, L.I., “What we know about the anatomy of conodonts? On the 170th anniversary of their discovery”, Zhizn Zemli [Life of the Earth] 48, no 3, 447–456 (2026) (in Russ., abstr. in Engl.). DOI: 10.29003/m5456.0514-7468.2026_48_3/447-456.

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What we know about the anatomy of conodonts? On the 170th anniversary of their discovery

V.M. Nazarova1, PhD, L.I. Kononova2, PhD
1 Lomonosov Moscow State University (Earth Science Museum)2 Lomonosov Moscow State University (Faculty of Geology)

Conodonts were discovered 170 years ago by the Russian paleontologist Christian Heinrich Pander. Despite the long history of research and their significant stratigraphic importance, details about the soft-body structure of these animals emerged as later as at the end of the 20th century. To date, only 13 conodont imprints have been identified. The article compiles data on these imprints. They vary in preservation quality, originate from different regions and stratigraphic levels, but all point to a similar structural plan. The focus has been on clearly identifiable features with unambiguous interpretations, namely: an elongated body, a distinct head with a phosphate conodont apparatus and eyes, a notochord, segmentation, and an asymmetric caudal fin with fin rays. It is suggested that conodonts should be classified as a branch of vertebrates. Previous attempts to gather information on conodont soft-body imprints were incomplete because some specimens were not given proper attention.

Список литературы

  1. Alexeyev, А.S., Goreva, N.V., Nazarova, V.М., “I.S. Barskov’s school in conodont studies”, Bull. Moscow Soc. Nat., Geol. 95 (2), 3–16 (2020) (in Russian).
  2. Barskov, I.S., “Conodonts in modern geology”, Results of Science and Technology. General Geology 19, 19–93 (1985) (in Russian).
  3. Barskov, I.S., Nazarova, V.M., “On the conodont life-forms”, Modern micropaleontology. Proc. of the XV All-Russian Micropaleontological Conf. (Moscow – Gelendzhik, 2012) (in Russian).
  4. Buriy, G.I., Kasatkina, A.P., Zhuravlev, A.V., “Imprints of euconodont animals in the Lower Carboniferous shales of the Subpolar Urals”, News of paleontology and stratigraphy 10–11, 90–93 (2008) (in Russian).
  5. Guravskaya, G.I., Kasatkina, A.P., “Review of world finds of euconodont animals”, Vestnik of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 5, 127–143 (2023). DOI:10.37102/0869-7698_2023_231_05_8 (in Russian).
  6. Nazarova, V.M., Gatovsky, Y.A., “«Conodont pearls» from the Devonian deposits of European Russia”, Moscow University Geology Bull. 75 (1), 31–39 (2020). DOI:10.3103/S014587522001010X (in Russian).
  7. Nazarova, V.M., Zaitseva, L.V., “Chemical composition of late Devonian phosphate microfossils of the East European Platform”, Bull. Moscow Soc. Nat., Geol. 93 (2), 42–53 (2018) (in Russian).
  8. Aldridge, R.J., Briggs, D.E.G., Clarkson, E.N.K., Smith, M.P., “The affinities of conodonts – new evidence from the Carboniferous of Edinburg, Scotland”, Lethaia 19 (4), 279–291 (1986).
  9. Aldridge, R.J., Briggs, D.E.G., Smith, M.P., Clarkson, E.N.K., Clark, N.D.L., “The anatomy of conodonts”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 340, 405–421 (1993).
  10. Aldridge, R.J., Theron, J.N., “Conodonts with preserved soft tissue from a new Ordovician Konservat-Lagerstätte”, J. Micropalaeontol. 12, 113–117 (1993). DOI:10.1144/jm.12.1.113.
  11. Briggs, D.E.G., Clarckson, E.N.K., Aldridge, R.J., “The conodont animal”, Lethaia 16 (1), 1–14 (1983).
  12. Briggs, D.E.G., Kear, A., “Decay of the lancelet Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Cephalochordata): implications for the interpretation of soft-tissue preservation in conodonts and other primitive chordates”, Lethaia 26 (4), 275–287 (1993). DOI:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1993.tb01532.x.
  13. Caron, J.-B., Jackson, D.A., “Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale”, PALAIOS 21 (5), 451–465 (2006). DOI:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R.
  14. Conway Morris, S., “A new Cambrian lophophorate from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia”, Palaeontol. 19, 199–222 (1976).
  15. Conway Morris, S., Caron, J.-B., “A possible home for a bizarre Carboniferous animal: is Typhloesus a pelagic gastropod?”, Biol. Letters 18 (9), 20220179 (2022). DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0179.
  16. Donoghue, P.C.J., Purnell, M.A., Aldridge R.J., “Conodont anatomy, chordate phylogeny and vertebrate classification”, Lethaia 31 (3), 211–219 (1998). DOI:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1998.tb00509.x.
  17. Donoghue, P.C.J., Forey, P.L., Aldridge, R.J., “Conodont affinity and chordate phylogeny”, Biol. reviews 75, 191–251 (2000). DOI:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1999.tb00045.x.
  18. Gabbott, S.E., Aldridge, R.J., Theron, J.N., “A giant conodont with preserved muscle tissue from the Upper Ordovician of South Africa”, Nature 374 (6525), 800–803 (1995). DOI:10.1038/374800a0.
  19. Guravskaya, G.I., Kasatkina, A.P., “Finding of skeletal attaching structures of euconodonts (H-elements) from the Lower Triassic of South Primorye: ecological significance”, Albertiana 44, 1–3 (2017).
  20. Melton, W., Scott, H.W., “Conodont-bearing animals from the Bear Gulch Limestone, Montana”, Geol. Soc. of America. Special Paper 141, 31–65 (1973).
  21. Mikulic, D.G., Briggs, D.E.G., Kluessendorf, J., “A Silurian soft-bodied biota”, Science 228 (4700), 715–717 (1985).
  22. Murdock, D.J.E., Smith, M.P. “Panderodus from the Waukesha lagerstatte of Wisconsin, USA: a primitive macrophagous vertebrate predator”, Papers in Palaeontol. 7 (4), 1977–1993 (2021). DOI:10.1002/spp2.1389.
  23. Pander, C.H., Monographie der fossilen Fische des silurischen Systems der russisch-baltischen Gouvernements (St-Petersburg: Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856).
  24. Purnell, M.A., Conodonts of the Lower Border Group and equivalent strata (Lower Carboniferous) in Northern Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, U.K. (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1992).
  25. Sweet, W.C., Donoghue P.C.J., “Conodonts: past, present, future”, J. Paleontol. 75 (6), 1174–1184 (2001). DOI:10.1017/S0022336000017224.

References

  1. Alexeyev, А.S., Goreva, N.V., Nazarova, V.М., “I.S. Barskov’s school in conodont studies”, Bull. Moscow Soc. Nat., Geol. 95 (2), 3–16 (2020) (in Russian).
  2. Barskov, I.S., “Conodonts in modern geology”, Results of Science and Technology. General Geology 19, 19–93 (1985) (in Russian).
  3. Barskov, I.S., Nazarova, V.M., “On the conodont life-forms”, Modern micropaleontology. Proc. of the XV All-Russian Micropaleontological Conf. (Moscow – Gelendzhik, 2012) (in Russian).
  4. Buriy, G.I., Kasatkina, A.P., Zhuravlev, A.V., “Imprints of euconodont animals in the Lower Carboniferous shales of the Subpolar Urals”, News of paleontology and stratigraphy 10–11, 90–93 (2008) (in Russian).
  5. Guravskaya, G.I., Kasatkina, A.P., “Review of world finds of euconodont animals”, Vestnik of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 5, 127–143 (2023). DOI:10.37102/0869-7698_2023_231_05_8 (in Russian).
  6. Nazarova, V.M., Gatovsky, Y.A., “«Conodont pearls» from the Devonian deposits of European Russia”, Moscow University Geology Bull. 75 (1), 31–39 (2020). DOI:10.3103/S014587522001010X (in Russian).
  7. Nazarova, V.M., Zaitseva, L.V., “Chemical composition of late Devonian phosphate microfossils of the East European Platform”, Bull. Moscow Soc. Nat., Geol. 93 (2), 42–53 (2018) (in Russian).
  8. Aldridge, R.J., Briggs, D.E.G., Clarkson, E.N.K., Smith, M.P., “The affinities of conodonts – new evidence from the Carboniferous of Edinburg, Scotland”, Lethaia 19 (4), 279–291 (1986).
  9. Aldridge, R.J., Briggs, D.E.G., Smith, M.P., Clarkson, E.N.K., Clark, N.D.L., “The anatomy of conodonts”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 340, 405–421 (1993).
  10. Aldridge, R.J., Theron, J.N., “Conodonts with preserved soft tissue from a new Ordovician Konservat-Lagerstätte”, J. Micropalaeontol. 12, 113–117 (1993). DOI:10.1144/jm.12.1.113.
  11. Briggs, D.E.G., Clarckson, E.N.K., Aldridge, R.J., “The conodont animal”, Lethaia 16 (1), 1–14 (1983).
  12. Briggs, D.E.G., Kear, A., “Decay of the lancelet Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Cephalochordata): implications for the interpretation of soft-tissue preservation in conodonts and other primitive chordates”, Lethaia 26 (4), 275–287 (1993). DOI:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1993.tb01532.x.
  13. Caron, J.-B., Jackson, D.A., “Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale”, PALAIOS 21 (5), 451–465 (2006). DOI:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R.
  14. Conway Morris, S., “A new Cambrian lophophorate from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia”, Palaeontol. 19, 199–222 (1976).
  15. Conway Morris, S., Caron, J.-B., “A possible home for a bizarre Carboniferous animal: is Typhloesus a pelagic gastropod?”, Biol. Letters 18 (9), 20220179 (2022). DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0179.
  16. Donoghue, P.C.J., Purnell, M.A., Aldridge R.J., “Conodont anatomy, chordate phylogeny and vertebrate classification”, Lethaia 31 (3), 211–219 (1998). DOI:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1998.tb00509.x.
  17. Donoghue, P.C.J., Forey, P.L., Aldridge, R.J., “Conodont affinity and chordate phylogeny”, Biol. reviews 75, 191–251 (2000). DOI:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1999.tb00045.x.
  18. Gabbott, S.E., Aldridge, R.J., Theron, J.N., “A giant conodont with preserved muscle tissue from the Upper Ordovician of South Africa”, Nature 374 (6525), 800–803 (1995). DOI:10.1038/374800a0.
  19. Guravskaya, G.I., Kasatkina, A.P., “Finding of skeletal attaching structures of euconodonts (H-elements) from the Lower Triassic of South Primorye: ecological significance”, Albertiana 44, 1–3 (2017).
  20. Melton, W., Scott, H.W., “Conodont-bearing animals from the Bear Gulch Limestone, Montana”, Geol. Soc. of America. Special Paper 141, 31–65 (1973).
  21. Mikulic, D.G., Briggs, D.E.G., Kluessendorf, J., “A Silurian soft-bodied biota”, Science 228 (4700), 715–717 (1985).
  22. Murdock, D.J.E., Smith, M.P. “Panderodus from the Waukesha lagerstatte of Wisconsin, USA: a primitive macrophagous vertebrate predator”, Papers in Palaeontol. 7 (4), 1977–1993 (2021). DOI:10.1002/spp2.1389.
  23. Pander, C.H., Monographie der fossilen Fische des silurischen Systems der russisch-baltischen Gouvernements (St-Petersburg: Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856).
  24. Purnell, M.A., Conodonts of the Lower Border Group and equivalent strata (Lower Carboniferous) in Northern Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, U.K. (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1992).
  25. Sweet, W.C., Donoghue P.C.J., “Conodonts: past, present, future”, J. Paleontol. 75 (6), 1174–1184 (2001). DOI:10.1017/S0022336000017224.