Discovered the origin of the monster Tully 300 million years ago

More than 50 years after the famous Tully monster fossil was discovered, scientists finally found the origin of the strange prehistoric creature that lived 300 million years ago.

According to Internationl Business Times, after misclassifying Tully the monster into the soft-bodied invertebrate group, researchers use advanced methods and draw conclusions that the creature is essentially a vertebrate fish. . The results of the study are published yesterday in the journal Nature.

Tully Monster was discovered in 1958 . Francis Tully amateur archaeologist stumbled across the fossil of an ocean creature never seen in Illinois, USA. The creature has a tubular body, 30cm long, oblong nose, many teeth and eyes at the end of the body, making it look more like a monster than a normal animal. For this reason, the creature named the monster Tully. From then on, the researchers found many other similar fossils.

The picture of Tully's monster appearance 300 million years ago.(Photo: forbes).

For years, scientists have tried to understand the origin of the organism, the way it exists and appears on Earth, but the fossil analysis is particularly difficult."Basically, no one knows what that is. The fossils are not easy to understand, and they're a little different. Some people think it's possible that it's a strange swim mollusk. We decided to use all methods of feasibility analysis with specimens , " said Derek Briggs, co-author and researcher.

The Field Museum in Chicago, USA, allows scientists to use the Tully Monster Collection of 2,000 specimens to conduct in-depth analysis. Briggs and his colleagues examined in detail the morphological features on different fossils.

The team also applied for the first time a state-of-the-art analytical technique called mapping synchrotron factor . Their goal is to use chemical components inside fossils to outline some of the organism's physical characteristics. In this way, they discover two new features of Tully monsters.

According to the researchers, the mammals and notochord , a primitive form of spinal cord. Because the creature has eyes and many teeth, the team believes it to be a predator.

"Monsters related to non-jawed fishes still exist today due to their unique characteristics, including primitive, teeth that grow into jaws and traces of bone rods, flexible cord-like structures Running along the spine, often found in vertebrates , " said Paul Mayer, manager of the invertebrate fossil collection at the Field Museum.

The discovery marks a breakthrough in understanding the biology of mysterious prehistoric creatures. However, many questions still need to be answered as when Tully monsters appear on Earth and when animals become extinct on time.