aplomado Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 In your opinion, what is the weirdest fossil vertebrate? I would like to see pictures! I will start out with the Helicoprion shark! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Absolutely the most improbable, remarkable and weirdest of all. 8 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 You beat me to it,Snolly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 A lot of the therapsids were probably pretty strange-looking creatures! -Joe 1 Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Some of the palaeomerycids (like Xenokeryx pictured below) were pretty weird-looking too! I mean...try to imagine a short-necked unicorned giraffe with saber teeth! -Joe 1 Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuslover340 Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Sharovipteryx would be a good candidate, I reckon 2 "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."-Romans 14:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 And I'll toss one more in here! The Cambrian fishes (like Metaspriggina below) were absolutely bizarre! -Joe 3 Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 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 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediospirifer Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 How about Platybelodon? 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. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 2 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Hallucigenia is cheating, ynot! Aplomado DID specify vertebrates and that creature, while certainly bizarre, is, at best, an onychophoran! -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 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. Lets try this one then... 2 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 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 Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 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? Also, I remember a nice thread about it having been assigned to the verts. Or am I having another senor moment? 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 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! -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 How'd you like to be the Mom that had to kiss this face? Anhanguera Detail of original artwork by talented FF member, Charlie, fossilized6s. 1 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Amargasaurus is a bit odd. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatinformationist Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Hey a piece here and a piece there, it all adds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Birds. think about it. Weird, but we are so accustomed to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam28 Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runner64 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Another strange shark being stethacanthus another odd vert are the "terror birds". They were pretty much giant chickens that were near the top of their food chain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptychodus04 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 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. Regards, Kris Global Paleo Services, LLC https://globalpaleoservices.com http://instagram.com/globalpaleoservices http://instagram.com/kris.howe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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