The ‘Tully monster’ is a vertebrate

@article{McCoy2016TheM,
  title={The ‘Tully monster’ is a vertebrate},
  author={Victoria E. McCoy and Erin E. Saupe and James C. Lamsdell and Lidya G. Tarhan and Sean McMahon and Scott Lidgard and Paul S. Mayer and Christopher D. Whalen and Carmen Soriano and Lydia A. Finney and Stefan Vogt and Elizabeth G. Clark and Ross P. Anderson and Holger Petermann and Emma R. Locatelli and Derek E. G. Briggs},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2016},
  volume={532},
  pages={496-499}
}
Problematic fossils, extinct taxa of enigmatic morphology that cannot be assigned to a known major group, were once a major issue in palaeontology. A long-favoured solution to the ‘problem of the problematica’, particularly the ‘weird wonders’ of the Cambrian Burgess Shale, was to consider them representatives of extinct phyla. A combination of new evidence and modern approaches to phylogenetic analysis has now resolved the affinities of most of these forms. Perhaps the most notable exception… 
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28 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
7
Background Citations
14
Methods Citations
3

28 Citations

Palaeontology: Getting the measure of a monster
TLDR
Two papers in this issue identify Tullimonstrum securely as a vertebrate, akin to lampreys and increasing the morphological disparity of that group.
The ‘Tully Monster’ is not a vertebrate: characters, convergence and taphonomy in Palaeozoic problematic animals
TLDR
It is found that structures described as supporting vertebrates, and particularly crown vertebrate, affinity face significant challenges from biological, functional and taphonomic perspectives, and Tullimonstrum should be excluded from the vertebrate crown.
The ‘tully monster’ is not a vertebrate
TLDR
It is found that structures described as supporting vertebrates – particularly crown vertebrate – affinity face significant challenges from biological, functional and taphonomic perspectives, and Tullimonstrum should be excluded from the vertebrate crown.
University of Birmingham The ‘ tully monster ’ is not a vertebrate
TLDR
It is found that structures described as supporting vertebrates – particularly crown vertebrate – affinity face significant challenges from biological, functional and taphonomic perspectives, and Tullimonstrum should be excluded from the vertebrate crown.
Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological–molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny
TLDR
By addressing nonindependence of characters, phylogenetic analyses recovered hagfish and lampreys in a clade of cyclostomes (congruent with the cyclostome hypothesis) using only morphological data, which potentially resolve the morphological–molecular conflict at the base of the Vertebrata.
Palaeospondylus as a primitive hagfish
TLDR
The first comparative morphological analysis of hagfish embryos and Palaeospondylus is reported, and a hitherto overlooked resemblance in the chondrocranial elements of these animals is reported; i.e., congruence in the arrangement of the nasal capsule, neurocranium and mandibular arch-derived velar bar.
Preservation and phylogeny of Cambrian ecdysozoans tested by experimental decay of Priapulus
TLDR
Experimental decay of the priapulid Priapulus reveal consistent bias towards rapid loss of internal non-cuticular anatomy compared with recalcitrant cuticular anatomy, which indicates that internal tissues are unlikely to be preserved with fidelity if organically preserved.
Three Cambrian fossils assembled into an extinct body plan of cnidarian affinity
TLDR
It is demonstrated that X. sinica possessed a polypoid body, a blind gastric cavity partitioned by septum-like structures, a holdfast that contained an additional cavity functioning as a hydroskeleton, a basal pit used for anchorage, and a radial whorl of feather-like tentacles for ciliary suspension feeding.
A critical appraisal of appendage disparity and homology in fishes
TLDR
Identifying homologies of morphological traits across large phylogenetic scales is not always straightforward, as many structures are likely to have accrued changes in morphology and function over evolutionary time.
The Mazon Creek Lagerstätte: a diverse late Paleozoic ecosystem entombed within siderite concretions
One of the best records of late Paleozoic ecosystems, the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte is world famous for its striking flora and fauna preserved within siderite concretions. Distinct from other late…
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