A lower Cambrian protoconodont apparatus from the Placentian of southeastern Newfoundland

A cluster of three pyritized, naturally arranged, conoidal sclerites has been found on a bedding surface in the lower Cambrian Chapel Island Formation in southeastern Newfoundland. The elements are about 4 mm in length and are morphologically similar to protoconodonts but neither their original chemical composition nor internal structure is preserved. Arrangement of the elements suggests that they belonged to an apparatus that performed a grasping function. The specimen is described here as Protohertzina? canadia n.sp. This is the oldest hitherto described protoconodont apparatus, apart from dusters of Mongolodus described from the lower Cambrian of the Lesser Himalaya. This paper adds to the scant knowledge of early protoconodonts that we consider to be the earliest biomineralized predators. square Cambrian, Chaetognatha, Newfoundland, predation, protoconodonts, Protohertzina, pyritization.