The peculiar feeding mechanism of the first vertebrates
Jaws made of bone are commonplace in the animal kingdom. However, how jaws developed in the course of evolution is still a mystery. Under the direction of paleontologist Nicolas Goudemand, a team of researchers from the University of Zurich and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility set about solving this puzzle. Living and extinct jawless animals can yield clues as to the development of the jaw. The researchers studied fossilized conodonts – extinct, eel-shaped animals whose precise relationship with the actual vertebrates is still a matter of debate. For their project, which was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and just published in the American journal PNAS, the researchers analyzed new conodont fossils that date from around the biggest mass extinction event at the boundary between the Permian and Triassic periods.