Promissum

Promissum Temporal range: Ordovician–Devonian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Conodonta
(unranked):	Prioniodontida
Family:	Balognathidae
Genus:	Promissum Gabbott, Aldridge & Theron 1995

Promissum is an extinct genus of conodonts, primitive chordates, that lived in the Ordovician period, about 500 million years ago. Some call it the Niagara Foundation fish.

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.

Well-preserved specimens were discovered in the Soom shale of South Africa in 1994.

Promissum was probably capable of maintaining a cruising speed, but not of bursts of speed.

The type species is Promissum pulchrum.

External links

• Promissum at fossilworks. org (retrieved 30 April 2016)