The Bizarre Feeding Mechanism of Conodonts
Posted on May 19, 2011
Conodonts are extinct eel-like creatures that lives about 250 million years ago. You can read more about them here. The conodonts had a strange feeding mechanism, that consisted of two upper lips, fangs, throat teeth and a toothed tongue-like organ.
In some new fossils discovered in China, researchers noticed several conjoined tooth-like structures that occupied an unusual position in the mouth. The scientists developed a 3D animated model that shows how conodonts fed. The researchers say most conodonts had to have two upper lips, upon each of which there was a long, fang-like structure. The conodonts also had a tongue-like organ bearing a complex set of spiny or comb-like teeth. This "tongue" rested on pulley-like cartilage and could be moved backwards and forwards thanks to two opposing muscles. The conodonts used the "tongue" and lips to grab food before two pairs of relatively robust, sometimes molar-like 'throat teeth' ground and cut it up. Take a look: