Peculiar feeding mechanism of the first vertebrates

A fang-like tooth on double upper lips, spiny teeth on the tongue and a pulley-like mechanism to move the tongue backwards and forwards -- this bizarre bite belongs to a conodont and, thanks to a fresh fossil find, has now been analyzed and reconstructed by paleontologists. Their analysis sheds some light on the evolutionary origin of jaws. Using a 3D animated model, the reconstruction shows for the first time how the first vertebrates fed.

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