skip to main content

The Brain Scoop: Tully Monster Mystery Solved

7 minutes 27 seconds

Videos are generally available for preview to non-members as short clips. Limited full-length titles are also available. Log In to view the full length title.

Browse Full-length Non-member Titles

How is it that a museum can have over twelve hundred fossils of a particular species in its collection and not even know what it is? For decades, it was thought the Tully Monster, a bizarre animal that lived 307 million years ago, was an invertebrate. However, as host Emily Graslie reveals in this episode, scientists at The Field Museum finally cracked the mystery of the monster. It is actually related to lamprey fish. Part of "The Brain Scoop" series.

Media Details

Runtime: 7 minutes 27 seconds

Illustration of a skeleton. Arrows indicate the front right toe and back left heel. Caption: Their elongated heel bone and Achilles tendon.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 1
2 minutes 32 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Closeup of an animal with a pointed snout, large claws, and overlapping scales covering its body. Caption: They are covered in keratin scales,
The Brain Scoop
Episode 2
4 minutes 19 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Person speaking. Caption: To de-extinct a species requires finding viable DNA,
The Brain Scoop
Episode 3
3 minutes 19 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Person speaking. Caption: that's a lot of species -- which ones do we bring back?
The Brain Scoop
Episode 4
3 minutes 29 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Person gesturing above an open book. The book has a broken spine and faded, handwritten text. Caption: So we catalogue the most primitive first
The Brain Scoop
Episode 5
7 minutes 15 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Person speaking. Caption: Well, today we're gonna talk about mammalian diversification.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 6
3 minutes 42 seconds
Grade Level: 11 - 12
Person holding a skeleton approximately the length of her thumb. Caption: …each of the limbs, and the scapula.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 7
5 minutes 34 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Person holding a taxidermized flying squirrel with legs extended. Caption: As you know, flying squirrels don't fly, they glide.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 8
6 minutes 47 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Platypus with a duck-like snout, webbed feet, and a furry body. Caption: They're the craziest things I've seen in my life.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 9
5 minutes 44 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Giant walking stick pinned to a board for display. Caption: This one's from Malaysia.
The Brain Scoop
Episode 10
5 minutes 9 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12