Eni eae len 
of the 
Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 
VOLUME XIII No. 2 
THE GENESEE CONODONTS 
BY WILLIAM L. BRYANT 
Conodonts are the teeth of some unknown family of animals 
formerly inhabiting the ancient seas of Europe and America. 
They range in geologic time from the Silurian to the lower 
Carboniferous. 
The teeth are very small, rarely exceeding a millimeter in 
length and perceptible to the unaided eye only as minute black 
or horn-colored objects with a resinous lustre. When weathered 
by acidic agents they lose their color, and white Conodonts are 
often conspicuous upon black shales, indicating the presence of 
sulphuric acid consequent upon the decomposition of pyrite. 
They are composed of carbonate and phosphate of lime. 
There is a great variety of form among the Conodonts. 
Simple and compound laniary teeth are found in the more 
ancient rocks, while in upper Devonian times a grinding denti- 
tion was introduced, bearing mute witness to the struggle for 
existence of these creatures as the conditions of life became ntore 
difficult. In their latter days they may also have acquired a 
dermal defensive armor as indicated by certain remains in the 
Conodont bed of Eighteen Mile Creek. 
Aside from the speculative interest concerning the zoological 
affinities of these minute fossils, they may have an important 
geological value as time indices. Many of the rocks in which 
they are found are almost destitute of other fossils, and one need 
only recall the long controversy over the age of the Ohio and 
Kentucky Shales—both Conodont bearing formations—to realize 
the need for a study of the evolution of these teeth and more 
complete descriptions of the varieties which occur in rocks of 
