"Tully Monster" redirects here. Not to be confused with Telly Monster.
Tullimonstrum
Temporal range: Pennsylvanian (Moscovian to Kasimovian),
311–306 Ma
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Specimen of Tullimonstrum gregarium showing stalked structures
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Subkingdom:
Eumetazoa
Clade:
ParaHoxozoa
Clade:
Bilateria
Genus:
†Tullimonstrum Richardson, 1966
Type species
Tullimonstrum gregarium
Richardson, 1966
Synonyms
Nemavermes mackeei Schram, 1973[1]
Tullimonstrum, colloquially known as the Tully monster or sometimes Tully's monster, is an extinct genus of soft-bodied bilaterian animal that lived in shallow tropical coastal waters of muddy estuaries during the Pennsylvanian geological period, about 300 million years ago. A single species, T. gregarium, is known. Examples of Tullimonstrum have been found only in the Essex biota, a smaller section of the Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois, United States. Its classification has been the subject of controversy, and interpretations of the fossil have likened it to molluscs, arthropods, conodonts, worms, tunicates, and vertebrates. This creature had a mostly cigar shaped body, with a triangular tail fin, two long stalked eyes, and a proboscis tipped with a mouth-like appendage. Based on the fossils, it seems this creature was a nektonic carnivore that hunted in the ocean’s water column. When Tullimonstrum was alive, Illinois was a mixture of ecosystems like muddy estuaries, marine environments, and rivers and lakes. Fossils of other organisms like crustacean Belotelson, the cnidarian Essexella, and the elasmobranch fish Bandringa have been found alongside Tullimonstrum.
^McCoy, Victoria E.; Wittry, Jack; Sadabadi, Hamed; Mayer, Paul (December 1, 2023). "A reappraisal of Nemavermes mackeei from the Mazon Creek fossil site expands Carboniferous cyclostome diversity". Journal of Paleontology. 97 (5): 1116–1132. Bibcode:2023JPal...97.1116M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.72. ISSN 0022-3360.
Tullimonstrum, colloquially known as the Tully monster or sometimes Tully's monster, is an extinct genus of soft-bodied bilaterian animal that lived in...
be a large invertebrate such as a bristleworm; he cited the extinct Tullimonstrum as an example of the shape. According to Holiday, this explains the...
includes the most famous faunal member of the Illinois state fossil Tullimonstrum, known popularly as the "Tully Monster". Other well-documented organisms...
world-famous Mazon Creek fauna, home to the Illinois's State Fossil, Tullimonstrum gregarium. A significant unconformity separates Mississippian from Pennsylvanian...
the Loch was an invertebrate creature similar in form to the extinct Tullimonstrum gregarium, but vastly larger. Holiday also claimed that he noticed several...
Vernanimalcula guizhouena: is this fossil organism an early bilaterian? Tullimonstrum: a taxonomic position of this fossil organism is unknown. Adult form...
mostly look like a much younger extinct animal, the Tully monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium), which is still debated as either an invertebrate or a chordate...
Essexella being the most abundant animal from this location. The enigmatic Tullimonstrum, nicknamed the Tully monster, is also present and one of the most famous...
melanosomes in vertebrates and cephalopods: implications for the affinity of Tullimonstrum. Proceedings B 286, 20191649. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019...
"monster" that would later be named in his honor. The Pennsylvanian species Tullimonstrum gregarium ("Tully Monster") is the Illinois state fossil. It is one...
conodont teeth and worm teeth located in the midgut of the animal. Tullimonstrum, another enigmatic animal from the upper Carboniferous of Illinois....
Jenkins, Meyer & Bhullar (2023). A study on the anatomy and affinities of Tullimonstrum gregarium is published by Mikami et al. (2023), who interpret T. gregarium...
from Mazon Creek like vertebrates, Tullimonstrum, and Pohlsepia are examined, to consider affinity of Tullimonstrum. Although this study treated Pohlsepia...
locality for genus †Syringopora †Tainoceras †Tentaculites †Tranodis †Tullimonstrum – type locality for genus †Wilkingia †Worthenia †Xyloiulus Yoldia The...
of most of the area's coal. Chief among the exhibit's specimens is Tullimonstrum gregarium, the Tully Monster, which is the enigmatic state fossil of...
Burgess Shales or the Soom Shale. In 2016, Gabbott's team determined that Tullimonstrum is a vertebrate based on cellular structures in the eyes. Further investigations...
genus or species. Tullimonstrum gregarium is argued to be a stem-lamprey by McCoy et al. (2016). A study of the eye anatomy of Tullimonstrum gregarium is published...
Invertebrates of the Field Museum formally named the Tully monster Tullimonstrum gregarium in honor of Tully. In 1964, John Ostrom led an expedition...
(Illinois, United States) is published by McCoy et al. (2020), who report Tullimonstrum gregarium as grouping with vertebrates in their analysis. A study on...
Smith & Caron (2017). A study on the phylogenetic relationships of Tullimonstrum gregarium, challenging its interpretation as a vertebrate, is published...
†Tuberculatosporites †Tuberculatosporites robustus †Tullimonstrum – type locality for genus †Tullimonstrum gregarius – type locality for species †Turnbullia...
eye melanosomes for determination of the phylogenetic affinities of Tullimonstrum is published by Rogers et al. (2019). A study on the morphological complexity...
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