Find out the answer to the mystery of ancient Tully monsters

The Tully monster is known to be one of the most controversial ancient creatures because for decades no one has been able to explain exactly which species.

In fact, there are few controversial ancient creatures like the Tully monster, a strange creature about the size of a bowling ball with eyes attached to the ends of a long, strange stub, living around 307 million years ago. .

Until recently, after decades of research, each person had a different way to identify this strange underwater creature, maybe the questions that puzzled scientists about the Tully monster were deciphered. : It is a vertebrate .

Image simulating monster Tully.

To reach this conclusion, the scientists analyzed the chemical residues left over on the fossilized remains of the Tully monster and compared them with chemical remnants on vertebrates and animals. another backbone from the ancient houses of monsters in what is today Mazon Creek in northeastern Illinois.

Victoria McCoy, assistant professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and her colleagues implemented a method of chemical research instead of using the fossils of the Tully monster.

Since amateur fossil collector Francis Tully discovered the creature's fossils in 1958, researchers have found it difficult to explain exactly what species the creature was when it had the characteristics of . all species include vertebrates, invertebrates, shellfish snails, a type of worm, boneless fish and arthropods, or may also be a member of a group of insects, spiders and lobsters.

"We thought that perhaps using anatomy would never be enough to end the debate, so we looked at the chemical perspective of the Tully monster fossils to understand how different tissues were made. ' , Victoria McCoy said.

To determine whether the Tully monster is a vertebrate or invertebrates, the team decided whether its fossils retain the remains of chitin, a long chain of sugar molecules that make up the Harder, more brittle tissue in the bones of invertebrates, or remnants of proteins that make up keratin and collagen are found in vertebrates.

The scientists used Raman spectroscopy , a molecular spectroscopy technique, to use the interaction of light with matter to better understand the material's structure or properties. This method is not harmful to fossils associated with firing a laser at a sample. The energy of the laser makes the various chemical bonds in the sample vibrate. By plotting these ratios, scientists can determine what kind of compound is present.

Victoria McCoy said: "It's difficult to identify a compound. But as long as you know what kind of compound makes up the substances in your sample, it's enough to distinguish vertebrates from invertebrates. '.

The team looked at 32 different points on 20 fossils, including three specimens of the Tully monster and 17 other ancient animals. The results showed that Tully was a vertebrate.

"The Tully monster all of its tissues we analyzed were made of protein and none of them were made of chitin. So that's really strong evidence that the monster Tully is in fact a vertebrate, ' emphasizes Victoria McCoy.

This finding is consistent with a 2016 study in Nature that showed that the Tully monster is a boneless fish in the same line as the modern rockfish.

However, this research still receives criticism. Some researchers argue that this is not the final result of the true identity of the Tully monster.

For example, the use of Raman spectroscopy with complex geological materials is not simple. This is why researchers have used statistical methods, said Shuhai Xiao, professor of geology at Virginia Tech. However, Xiao adds that Raman spectral data collection and analysis is capable of providing new insights into the study of problematic fossils, such as the Tully monster.

It would be useful to include more specimens, including Tully monsters and other equally ancient animals from Mazon Creek, Steven Jasinski, and other paleontologists at Pennsylvania State Museum.

1. The constant debate about the 300 million-year-old Tully monster
2. Discovered the origin of the monster Tully 300 million years ago