Skip to content Skip to navigation

Article: Euconodont hard tissue: preservation patterns of the basal body

Palaeontology - Vol. 63 Part 1 - Cover Image
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 63
Part: 1
Publication Date: January 2020
Page(s): 29 49
Author(s): Thomas J. Suttner, and Erika Kido
Addition Information

How to Cite

SUTTNER, T.J., KIDO, E. 2020. . Palaeontology, 63, 1, 29-49. DOI: /doi/10.1111/pala.12438

Author Information

  • Thomas J. Suttner - Geological‐Palaeontological Department Natural History Museum Vienna Burgring 7 1010 Vienna Austria
  • Thomas J. Suttner - Institute for Earth Sciences University of Graz Heinrichstrasse 26 8010 Graz Austria
  • Erika Kido - Institute for Earth Sciences University of Graz Heinrichstrasse 26 8010 Graz Austria

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 24 December 2019
  • Manuscript Accepted: 01 May 2019
  • Manuscript Received: 31 October 2018

Funded By

Austrian Science Fund. Grant Number: FWF P23775‐B17

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
Get Article: Wiley Online Library [Pay-to-View Access] |

Abstract

Conodont elements, consisting of crown and basal tissue are the well‐known fossilized hard parts of Conodonta (extinct marine chordates), but the taphonomic processes leading to decomposition or remineralization of the basal tissue are not well understood. Here we focus on the taphonomy of basal tissue, reviewing the published record and describing new material from Asia and Europe (248 occurrences globally). These include crown and basal tissue in conjunction, and isolated basal bodies showing different stages of preservation. Some isolated specimens resemble phosphate rings similar to those assigned to Phosphannulus universalis. High‐resolution biostratigraphy indicates that the lamellar type of conodont basal tissue is found in all facies and depositional environments. Other basal tissue types, described in the literature as tubular, mesodentine, spherulitic or lamellar with canalules, are limited to the early Palaeozoic and found exclusively in siliciclastic deposits (with the exception of spherulitic tissue). Although the stratigraphic record of basal tissue spans the range of Euconodonta (Cambrian–Triassic), this study shows that most of the isolated plate and ring‐like structures are derived from early Palaeozoic coniform conodonts. Basal tissue of platform‐type elements has a much more fragile shape and is therefore rarely preserved as a recognizable isolated unit.

PalAss Go! URL: http://go.palass.org/kp8 | Twitter: Share on Twitter | Facebook: Share on Facebook | Google+: Share on Google+