Conodont

/ˈkɒnədɒnt/ noun

Definition

An extinct marine animal from hundreds of millions of years ago with tiny cone-shaped teeth used for filtering or chewing food.

Etymology

From Greek kōnos (cone) + odoús (tooth). Conodonts were named for their distinctive cone-shaped tooth-like structures called conodont elements, which are commonly found as fossils.

Kelly Says

Conodonts are one of paleontology's great mysteries—we found their teeth everywhere for over a century before we finally discovered what the rest of the animal looked like, and it turned out to be a small eel-like creature!

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