140 



VERMES 



PHYLUM III 



described by Hinde in the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian'and Carboniferous 

 rocks of the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Sweden (Island of Got- 

 land). These are very small, black, highly lustrous bodies, extremely variable 



in form (Fig. 222), and mainly 

 composed of chitinous material 

 which is unafFected by acid. They 

 exhibit a striking resemblance to 

 the jaws of recent. Annelids, and 

 probably represent a large number 

 of genera. 



Of less certain derivation are 

 the microscopic teeth first described 

 by Pander under the name of 

 "Conodonts" (Fig. 223), which 

 occur detached in the Cambrian 

 (Blue Cläy underlying the Ungulite 

 Grit) of St. Petersburg, and are 

 also very abundant in beds of 

 Ordovician, Silurian and Car- 

 boniferous age in Russia, Great 

 Britain, the United States and 

 Canada. They are usually translucent, lustrous or corneous, and are composed 



Fig. 231. 



Lumhricaria colon Münst. Lithograi)hic Stone ; Solen- 

 hofen, Bavaria. Natural size. 



-3 



Fig. 222. 



Paleozoic Annelid-jaws. A, Lumbriconereites hasalis Hinde. Silurian ; Dundas, Ontario. lo/j. ß^ Oenonites 

 rostratus Hinde. Toronto. l5/i. C, Eunicites varians Grinnell. Toronto, "/i- ^, Arabellites scutellatus 

 Hinde. Ordovician ; Toronto, lö/j. 



of carbonate and phosphate of lime. They exhibit very great variety in form. 

 By Pander and others these fossils have been regarded as fish-teeth. Zittel 



^ 



Fig. 223. 



Conodonts, greatly enlarged. A, B, Paltodus truncatus Pander (after Pander). C, Prioniodus elegans Pander. 

 Cambrian ; St. Petersburg. D, Polygnathus duUus Hinde. Devonian ; North Evans, NeAv York. 20/^. 



and Rohon, however, consider that they are Annelid jaws, but their true 

 Position cannot yet be said to have been positively determined. 



