Illustrations of Ordovician conodont and Sacabambaspis

Two illustrations of underwater creatures. On the left is a scaley, eel-like animal with prominent eyes against a blue background, on the right is a pair of armored, tad-pole-like fish against a sandy seabed.

Illustrations of Ordovician, jawless vertebrates. Left is a Promissum conodont, ranging from 5 to 50 cm in length and named after unusual, cone-like teeth fossils, which are hypothesized to be ancestors of modern lampreys and hagfishes. On the right is a pair of Sacabambaspis, around 35 cm in length, which had distinct, forward-facing eyes and an armored head. Very few conodont species survived the Late Ordovician Extinction Event, and no fossils of animals like Sacabambaspis from after the event have been discovered.

Date:
09 January 2026
Credit:
Nobu Tamura (CC BY-SA)
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