Panderodus
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''Panderodus'' Is an
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
genus of
jawless fish Agnatha (; ) or jawless fish is a paraphyletic infraphylum of animals in the subphylum Vertebrata of the phylum Chordata, characterized by the lack of jaws. The group consists of both extant taxon, living (Cyclostomi, cyclostomes such as hagfish ...
belonging to the order
Conodont Conodonts, are an extinct group of marine jawless vertebrates belonging to the class Conodonta (from Ancient Greek κῶνος (''kōnos''), meaning " cone", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth"). They are primarily known from their hard ...
a. This genus had a long temporal range, surviving from the middle
Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...
to late
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
. In 2021, extremely rare body fossils of ''Panderodus'' from the
Waukesha Biota The Waukesha Biota (also known as Waukesha Lagerstätte, Brandon Bridge Lagerstätte, or Brandon Bridge fauna) is an important fossil site located in Waukesha County and Franklin, Milwaukee County within the state of Wisconsin. This biota is pr ...
were described, and it revealed that ''Panderodus'' had a more thick body compared to the more slender bodies of more advanced conodonts. It also revealed that this conodont was a macrophagous predator, meaning it went after large prey.


Discovery

''Panderodus'' was first described in 1959 on the basis of its tooth structures known as conodont elements. In 1985 a poorly preserved body fossil of the species ''Panderodus unicostatus'' was discovered in the Waukesha biota, a fossil site located in southeastern
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. At the time of its discovery this specimen was the one of only two known conodont body fossils, the other one being a body fossil possibly belonging to ''
Clydagnathus ''Clydagnathus'' is a genus of conodonts in the family Cavusgnathidae. Species are known from the Carboniferous of India and the Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleoz ...
'' which was found in 1983 from
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
rocks of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. More body fossils have since been found, like a large fossil of the species '' Promissum pulchrum'' found in the upper
Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...
soom shale in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in the 1990s, but only 11 total are so far known. The Waukesha fossil was known to have belonged to ''Panderodus'', but wasn't fully analyzed until 2021. This fossil revealed that at least ''P. unicostatus'' had a thicker body then most other conodonts, and had more primitive shark-like teeth. These features suggest ''P. unicostatus'' was a macrophagous hunter, something rare in
vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...
from the Ordovician-Silurian (due to the fact that many of them had no jaws).


Classification

''Panderodus'' is a conodont of the family Panderodontidae, with Its closest relative being ''Besselodus''. This conodont was relatively primitive; unlike later conodonts whose teeth formed into a complex
sieve A sieve (), fine mesh strainer, or sift is a tool used for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet m ...
, the teeth of ''Panderodus'' were large and shark-like. The teeth probably had their own roles, like locking prey into place. Conodonts themselves are an unusual grouping, as for more than a hundred years we only knew of them by their teeth structures. Conodonts are classed in the grouping
Agnatha Agnatha (; ) or jawless fish is a paraphyletic infraphylum of animals in the subphylum Vertebrata of the phylum Chordata, characterized by the lack of jaws. The group consists of both extant taxon, living (Cyclostomi, cyclostomes such as hagfish ...
alongside jawless fish like
lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...
s and
hagfish Hagfish, of the Class (biology), class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and Order (biology), order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped Agnatha, jawless fish (occasionally called slime eels). Hagfish are the only known living Animal, animals that h ...
.
Conodonts Conodonts, are an extinct group of marine jawless vertebrates belonging to the Class (biology), class Conodonta (from Ancient Greek κῶνος (''kōnos''), meaning "cone", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth"). They are primarily known ...
such as ''Panderodus'' were typically small to medium sized, elongate, marine
vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...
that look similar to
eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...
today.Sweet WC. 1988. The Conodonta : Morphology, Taxonomy, Paleoecology, and Evolutionary History of a Long-Extinct Animal Phylum. New York: Clarendon Press These creatures have been classified under a large amount of animals, however now they are recognized as
agnathan Agnatha (; ) or jawless fish is a paraphyletic infraphylum of animals in the subphylum Vertebrata of the phylum Chordata, characterized by the lack of jaws. The group consists of both living ( cyclostomes such as hagfishes and lampreys) and ext ...
vertebrates. The phylogenetic position of ''Panderodus'' relative to other conodonts with complete apparatus reconstructions:


Venom

Another study found that some species of ''Panderodus'' exhibited body parts that would mean they would be
venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
ous. This makes these conodonts some of the earliest known venomous
organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...
s in the
fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60403895 Conodont genera Fossil taxa described in 1959 Ordovician conodonts Devonian conodonts