SEAN MCMAHON/YALE UNIVERSITY
Science Magazine has a story about the Tully Monster. A paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, calls into question whether Tullymonstrum is a vertebrate. The new research found melanosomes in extant invertebrate eyes (Octopus and Squid). That was a key part of the previous argument as it was widely believed melanosomes were only present in vertebrate eyes.
The mysterious “Tully Monster,” a 15-centimeter-long, stalk-eyed creature (artist’s concept above) that swarmed the seas of what is now Illinois more than 300 million years ago, was a vertebrate and a close relative of lampreys. At least that’s what scientists concluded 3 years ago. An even more recent study seems to have confirmed that classification. But a new analysis could shake up this strange animal’s family tree.
This new effort focused on the eyes of Tullimonstrum, whose informal name honors the paleontologist who first discovered it. They homed in on melanosomes, microscopic, pigment-containing structures that often bind to metals such as zinc and copper, which possibly serve as antioxidants. Such structures were widely thought to be present only in the eyes of vertebrates, hence a previous team’s 2016 classification.
