The generic name Hindeodus is a tribute to George Jennings Hinde, a British geologist and paleontologist from the 1800s and early 1900s.

The suffix -odus typically describes the animal's teeth, essentially making Hindeodus mean Hinde-teeth.

Conodonts such as Hindeodus are typically small, elongate, marine animals that look similar to eels today.

[7] Their body consisted entirely of soft tissues, except for an assortment of phosphatic elements believed to be their feeding apparatus.

[10] Hindeodus was first described by Rexroad and Furnish in 1964 during the Illinois State Geological Survey's study of Mississippian stratigraphy.

[11]  The specimen was found in the Pella Formation of South-central Iowa which is known for excellent preservation of conodonts.

[11] While faunal diversity during the end Permian extinction event (251 million years ago) drastically plummeted, Hindeodus survived into the early Triassic.

[10] Additionally, there is evidence that Hindeodus was able to migrate during the Permian-Triassic transitional period which lead to its wide distribution worldwide during this time.

One hypothesis is that the elements were used as support structures for filamentous soft tissue used for suspension feeding.

However, upon further analysis it was determined that the S, M and P elements would not provide enough surface area to support ciliated tissue needed for suspension feeding.

It is predicted that the S and M elements open allowing the prey to be captured in the oral cavity of the animal.

[9] Species of Hindeodus are divided into two groups based on the morphology of the posterior portion of the elements.

[7] The synapomorphies that define the clade Prioniodontida is the presence of a P elements with an inner lateral process and peg-like denticles.

[22] For example, in the Meishan, Gondelellids were dominant in deep warm-water environments before the ecological stress that occurred in the Late Permian (which was possibly short-lasting cooling in low latitudes due to presence of aerosoles).

A similar situation occurred in Iran where Gondelellids were abruptly replaced by the Hindeodus in the deep-water areas.

[22] There is evidence that Hindeodus was able to migrate during the Permian Triassic transitional period which lead to its wide distribution worldwide during this time.

It is found in Japan, North America, the Boreal realm (Greenland), and the entire Tethys.

[10] It is a continuous, pelagic sedimentary record across the Permian-Triassic boundary without any stratigraphic gaps, and is essentially thermally unaltered (CAI=1-1.5).

[23] It is hypothesized that the extinction was caused by dense aerosols from strong volcanic activity in areas such as the Siberian Trap.

These dense aerosols then caused short-lived rapid cooling in low latitudes, similar to a nuclear winter.

[10] Additionally, the derivation of H. parvus from its forerunner H. latidentatus is clear because they are found sandwiched between transition forms.

Despite the close proximity with similar fossils, Hindeodus is easily determinable and readily separable by its large cusp.

[10] The wide distribution, clear derivation, and easy identifiability of Hindeodus makes it the ideal index fossil, which is why the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) has assigned the First Appearance Datum of Hindeodus parvus as the defining biological marker for the start of the Induan, 252.2 ± 0.5 million years ago, the first stage of the Triassic.