Spineless Ancient Beast Makes Scientists Question Evolution

Around 307 million years ago, a bizarre beast called the Tully monster roamed the seas. Scientists in modern times have long been mystified by its absurd characteristics. Its eyes were like those of a hammerhead shark's and a pincer-like mouth that altogether made it look like it belongs to the world of Dr. Seuss.

The Tully monster has often confused scientists as to how they should be classified. But last year, they were finally able to do so, with two different scientific groups announcing that it is most likely a marine vertebrate. That could have put the classification debate to an end. But according to Live Science, it looked like these two teams were wrong.

A new paper published in the journal Paleontology noted that the Tully monster may have in fact been an invertebrate or a spineless sea beast. Lead researcher Lauren Sallan, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, said that the animal was difficult to classify because it is very weird in itself. She shared, "It has these eyes that are on stalks, and it has this pincer at the end of a long proboscis, and there's even disagreement about which way is up. But the last thing that the Tully monster could be is a fish."

The statement came when the thousands of preserved fossils studied were found to no key structures missing for it to be called an aquatic vertebrate. The Huffington Post noted that the missing structures, called otic capsules, were components of the ear, which allowed sea creatures to balance, as well as a lateral line that serves as a sensory structure that enables them to orient themselves in space.

The Tully monster is definitely not a fish. But at this point, nobody knows what it actually is either.