2008/09/01 by Sachiko Agematsu, SACHIKO AGEMATSU, Michael J. Orchard +3 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00804.x
Abstract: The apparatus of an Early Triassic conodont Neostrachanognathus tahoensis Koike, 1998 from Oritate, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, and a species of Neostrachanognathus from Oman were reconstructed. On the basis of five natural assemblages from the Oritate area, the three‐dimensional apparatus model of N . tahoensis is interpreted as bilaterally symmetrical and composed of 14 elements consisting of pairs of P 1 , P 2 , P 3 , S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , and S 4 elements. The P 1 and P 2 elements are coniform elements, the P 3 elements are digyrate forms, and the S elements are bipennate ramiforms. The S elements are arranged rostrally in the apparatus and the pairs of the P 1 , P 2 , and P 3 elements are subvertically arranged caudally and ventrally to the S array. One of the natural assemblages was formed by rostrocaudal collapse of the apparatus on the sea floor, whereas the other assemblages indicate that conodont animals came to rest nearly parallel with the substrate prior to burial. A collection of isolated elements from Jabal Safra, Oman, includes a second species of Neostrachanognathus with a comparable apparatus.