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What are some of the weirdest fossil vertebrates?


aplomado

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In your opinion, what is the weirdest fossil vertebrate? 

I would like to see pictures!

 

I will start out with the Helicoprion shark!

 

HelicoProfileWithWhorl_color.jpg

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Absolutely the most improbable, remarkable and weirdest of all.

 

human-skeleton-1443448355y0V.thumb.jpg.7c64a27064f1aa89aa1eea388c84364e.jpg

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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1 hour ago, doushantuo said:

You beat me to it,Snolly

LOL, it's the first thing that occurred to me. However, I think this is going to be an interesting topic. There are tons of truly remarkable creatures represented in the fossil record. It's actually kind of difficult to say which is the "weirdest." aplomodo's initial choice has to be in the top ten. 

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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Some of the palaeomerycids (like Xenokeryx pictured below) were pretty weird-looking too!

b73d21d4bb3c5b89d06ce45cc7e5ec31.jpg

 

I mean...try to imagine a short-necked unicorned giraffe with saber teeth!

 

-Joe

Illigitimati non carborundum

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Sharovipteryx would be a good candidate, I reckon :P

sharovipteryx.jpg

sharov-sharov588.jpg

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."
-Romans 14:19

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My favorite is the Helicoprion shark, whatever it looked like, but since that's already spoken for I'm heading into the world of Dinosaurs.  Lots to pick from and some of the coolest are in the family of Therizinosaurs.   They evolved from being carnivores in the Jurassic to herbivores in the late Cretaceous and used 3 meter arms with meter long claws to forage for food.  Not one species you want a hug from :ighappy:

 

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How about Platybelodon?

 

Platybelodon.jpg.7f2d15f73d4330dafe6c800ecae50427.jpg

 

There are other wild-looking elephant relatives (like Deinotherium), but these critters caught my attention recently and made me sit up!

 

Here's a link to the article that I saw. LINK.

 

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Hallucigenia is cheating, ynot!  Aplomado DID specify vertebrates and that creature, while certainly bizarre, is, at best, an onychophoran!

 

-Joe

Illigitimati non carborundum

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6 minutes ago, Fruitbat said:

Hallucigenia is cheating, ynot!  Aplomado DID specify vertebrates and that creature, while certainly bizarre, is, at best, an onychophoran!

 

-Joe

My bad-- missed the vert part.:blush:

Lets try this one then...

Image result for tully monsterImage result for tully monster

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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Now Tullimonstrum has possibilities...unless you ascribe to a recent article that claims that it isn't a vertebrate either!  Sallan, L., et al. (2017). The 'Tully Monster' Is Not a Vertebrate: Characters, Convergence and Taphonomy in Palaeozoic Problematic Animals. Palaeontology, 2017.

 

I know...I know...I'm being too blasted picky!

-Joe

Illigitimati non carborundum

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For a vertebrate...Helicoprion. Only ever found two tooth swirls in 4 decades. I'd like to find an attached piece of skull or impression one day that provides some perspective on the jaw placement. 

 

Otherwise....some pterosaurs. Be neat to find one of those strange articulated wings.

 

Those early chordates from the Cambrian are bizarre...if they are chordates.  My climbing friends and I have likely scrambled over Burgess Shale like fossils and never knew it.

 

 

 

 

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26 minutes ago, Fruitbat said:

Now Tullimonstrum has possibilities...unless you ascribe to a recent article that claims that it isn't a vertebrate

Didn't We have one win the vertebrate fossil of the month last year?:headscratch:

Also, I remember a nice thread about it having been assigned to the verts.:headscratch::headscratch:

Or am I having another senor moment?:wacko:

 

Tony

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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Gadzooks!  Hoisted on my own petard!  CanadaWest is right...Metaspriggina is a chordate (has a dorsal notochord)...NOT a vertebrate (chordates with backbones)!

 

As for Hallucigenia, in is currently recognized as being closest to the Onychophorans ('velvet worms' like the modern Peripatus and its relatives).  This status is still being debated.

 

Okay...one doesn't have to go too far from home to get a very weird-looking beastie!  They're common (unlike Helicoprion) but they are definitely bizarre!

 

Presenting the lowly lamprey!

 

sea-lamprey.jpg

 

-Joe

Illigitimati non carborundum

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How'd you like to be the Mom that had to kiss this face?

 

Anhanguera

anhangportrait.thumb.jpg.4b180d1db4d6e92db71d5b4e017c35a2.jpg

Detail of original artwork by talented FF member, Charlie, fossilized6s.

 

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/20/2017 at 2:58 PM, Fruitbat said:

Hallucigenia is cheating, ynot!  Aplomado DID specify vertebrates and that creature, while certainly bizarre, is, at best, an onychophoran!

 

-Joe

I think it's upside down again.

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Any of the sail-backs (dimetrodon, spinosaurus, platyhystrix, etc.) get my vote. Diplocaulus (amphibian with a boomerang shaped skull) has to be up there too

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Another strange shark being stethacanthus

IMG_7541.thumb.JPG.3575181948e8b7c485e29ae93b7d1e42.JPG

 

another odd vert are the "terror birds". They were pretty much giant chickens that were near the top of their food chain!

IMG_7542.JPG.4ce0c7468e4874af6fe326100ae280fc.JPG

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I gotta agree with @jpc. Birds are freaks of nature. I once had a pet parakeet that learned to mimic the phone ringing, back when we had land lines.

 

When you would go pick up the phone to answer it, she would stop and start laughing. 

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