The Conodonta

Walter Sweet introduces conodonts, a phylum of extinct marine invertebrate animals that are represented by a diverse array of tiny tooth-like fossils. They existed for about 300 million years and their fossils have been found all over the globe. The zoological relations of these common fossils are still uncertain and nothing like them exists today. In the past thirty years, interest in conodonts has become international and understanding of them has grown rapidly, due to their importance in petroleum exploration. The author looks at the major features of their long geological history and examines possible relations to other animals and patterns of deployment and evolutionary development.