March 17, 2016
A vexing fossil that stumped scientists for over 50 years has finally been identified, producing a picture of the creature that lives up to its monstrous moniker.
Known as the 'Tully Monster,' the remnants of the strange creature were discovered in 1958 by a fossil hunter in Illinois.
A subsequent exploration of the cave in which it was found unearthed a stunning 2,000 other similar creatures, but paleontologists could not seem to decipher the nature of the odd animal.
Over time, a legend grew around the 'monster' and it was even named the 'official fossil' for Illinois in 1989.
However new research using state-of-the-art observational techniques allowed scientists to develop a much clearer picture of the mysterious creature.
For the first time, they can definitively say that it was a vertebrate that boasted a long neck and an incredibly strange set of eyes that were on the ends of a bar which sat upon its back.
Despite these new findings, the Tully Monster remains enigmatic to paleontologists, who still know little about how the creature lived when it swam in the waters of Illinois 300 million years ago.
And while they believe that it was likely a predator, the ferocious-looking beast may not have been as terrifying as it appears in reconstructions today, since it only grew to be about a foot long.
Nonetheless, swimmers in Illinois are probably happy to know that they won't be encountering the monster in modern times.
Source: RedOrbit
A vexing fossil that stumped scientists for over 50 years has finally been identified, producing a picture of the creature that lives up to its monstrous moniker.
Known as the 'Tully Monster,' the remnants of the strange creature were discovered in 1958 by a fossil hunter in Illinois.
A subsequent exploration of the cave in which it was found unearthed a stunning 2,000 other similar creatures, but paleontologists could not seem to decipher the nature of the odd animal.
Over time, a legend grew around the 'monster' and it was even named the 'official fossil' for Illinois in 1989.
However new research using state-of-the-art observational techniques allowed scientists to develop a much clearer picture of the mysterious creature.
For the first time, they can definitively say that it was a vertebrate that boasted a long neck and an incredibly strange set of eyes that were on the ends of a bar which sat upon its back.
Despite these new findings, the Tully Monster remains enigmatic to paleontologists, who still know little about how the creature lived when it swam in the waters of Illinois 300 million years ago.
And while they believe that it was likely a predator, the ferocious-looking beast may not have been as terrifying as it appears in reconstructions today, since it only grew to be about a foot long.
Nonetheless, swimmers in Illinois are probably happy to know that they won't be encountering the monster in modern times.
Source: RedOrbit