Ecological control on micro-ornamentation of conodont elements

Abstract

Conodonts are considered now as specific group of early Chordata or even Vertebrata. Fifteen tooth-like conodont elements of seven morphological types compose the oral apparatus of conodonts. The elements demonstrate complex morphology. All the elements bear polygonal micro-ornamentation. The ornamentation is considered as representing imprints of the epithelium cells. Ecological dependencies of the cell sizes are known for some recent organisms.The maximum cell sizes are characteristic of optimal environmental conditions. Thus, one can supposes that decreasing in cell imprint size in the conodonts marks disturbance in water temperature or/and oxygen content.