Palæont. [mod. f. Gr. κῶνος cone + ὀδοντ- tooth.] A small conical tooth-like glistening body, found in Silurian and other ancient strata, and at first supposed to be a tooth of a cyclostomous fish; now more generally considered to be the remains of some invertebrate animal.
1859. Owen, in Encycl. Brit., XVII. 116/1. The writer finds no form of spine, denticle, or hooklet in any Echinoderm to match the Conodonts; and concludes that they have most analogy with the spines … of naked Molluscs or Annelides.
1872. Nicholson, Palæont. (1879), II. 122. Much difficulty was felt by scientific men in accepting Pander’s view that the Conodonts were the teeth of fishes.
