Promissum Temporal range: [1]
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | † Conodonta |
Family: | † Balognathidae |
Genus: | †
Promissum Kovacs-Endrody, 1986 |
Species: | †P. pulchrum
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Binomial name | |
†Promissum pulchrum Kovacs-Endrody, 1986
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Promissum is an extinct genus of conodonts, primitive chordates, that lived during the Upper Ordovician period.
A conodont, Promissum had a primitive mouth under its eyes with mineralized teeth, which are both typical for conodonts. It had a primitive backbone and probably looked like a small eel or large worm, lacking any kind of fins except for perhaps a small one on the tail. It was relatively large for a conodont, reaching about 40 cm (16 inch) in length. [2]
Well-preserved specimens were discovered in the Soom shale of South Africa in 1994. [3]
Promissum was probably capable of maintaining a cruising speed, but not of bursts of speed. [3]