Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios support trophic partitioning within a Silurian conodont community from Gotland, Sweden

Abstract Conodonts were a highly diverse and abundant vertebrate group whose fossils are found in marine Paleozoic Triassic strata around the world. They inhabited environments ranging from lagoons to open oceans represented by wide variety of dental morphologies. may have filled many different ecological niches represent significant proportion nekton before Devonian. Despite this, very little is known about trophic ecology conodonts. While morphological diversity suggests complex structure within conodont communities, there evidence support dietary niche partitioning among We tested hypothesis that individual taxa occupied niches, using Sr/Ca Ba/Ca ratios preserved elements assemblages Silurian Gotland, Sweden. been shown vary skeletal tissues depending on positioning, although biological environmental conditions can affect these ratios. Environmental influences minimized examining entire communities tropical epeiric sea measuring strontium isotope thermal ionization mass spectrometry most metropolitan taxon ( Ozarkodina confluens ). Composition white matter, tissue unique conodonts, was also analyzed microprobe analysis, revealing significantly lower Sr concentrations than surrounding lamellar tissue, suggesting taxon-specific histology should be considered when analyzing conodonts for geochemical data. Excluding with variable quantities results show each preserves limited overlap, indicating variation positioning.