EARLY PERMIAN CONODONT ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE WOLFCAMP SHALE, MIDLAND BASIN, WEST-TEXAS

Nine assemblages of conodont elements have been found on bedding surfaces of the "Wolfcamp Shale" from the Midland Basin, Texas. Four of these assemblages have Pa elements assigned to Sweetognathus cf. S. inornatus. The assemblages are classified taphonomically as apparatus (remains or partial remains of a single individual) or coprolitic associations. The two apparatus assemblages indicate that Sweetognathus cf. S. inornatus possessed a seximembrate apparatus comprised of Pa, Pb, M, Sa, Sb, and Sc elements. Five of the seven coprolitic associations contain numerous elements (50-100) and/or multiple pairs of Pa elements representing the presumably ingested remains of two or more conodonts. The "Wolfcamp Shale" assemblages are significant because 1) they confirm the polygnathacean affinity of the family Sweetognathidae, 2) they represent the youngest polygnathacean assemblages currently known, and 3) they permit comparison of multielement Sweetognathus with homologous elements of coeval genera such as Hindeodus, Adetognathus, Streptognathodus, and Neostreptognathodus.