The interrelationships of ‘complex’ conodonts (Vertebrata)

Little attention has been paid to the suprageneric classification for conodonts and existing schemes have been formulated without attention to homology, diagnosis and definition. We propose that cladistics provides an appropriate methodology to test existing schemes of classification and in which to explore the evolutionary relationships of conodonts. The development of a multi-element taxonomy and a concept of homology based upon the position, not morphology, of elements within the apparatus provide the ideal foundation for the application of cladistics to conodonts. In an attempt to unravel the evolutionary relationships between ‘complex’ conodonts (prioniodontids and derivative lineages) we have compiled a data matrix based upon 95 characters and 61 representative taxa. The dataset was analysed using parsimony and the resulting hypotheses were assessed using a number of measures of support. These included bootstrap, Bremer Support and double-decay; we also compared levels of homoplas...