The tully monster
is a truly weird fossil, so much so that I want to make it clear up front that
I have not concocted this animal as part of an April Fool’s joke. Specimens
range in size from 3 to 15 inches (8-35 cm).
It is soft bodied, with no external hard parts. The elongate shape can
be divided into three regions. The blunt
tail end bears fins on each side. The
head region has an elongate proboscis that terminates in a pair of jaws with
eight small sharp “teeth”. The trunk is
segmented and bears a bar shaped structure that projects sideways. Each end of the bar is expanded and
pigmented. These expansions are
apparently eyes. Although this animal looks most like something from a cheap
1960s Japanese scifi flick, the anatomy is well understood, as literally thousands
of its fossils have been found.
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| Above and blow: A scientist's view of the Tullimonstrum. |
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| A model of Tullimonstrum, showing the creature's peculiar shape and details of the toothed proboscis. |
The first specimens
were discovered in 1958 by amateur fossil collector Francis Tully of Lockport
Illinois who brought them to the Field Museum of Natural History where they
came to the attention of the famous Curator of Fossil Invertebrates Eugene
Richardson. Richardson wrote or co-authored the first scientific publications
on it. Tully’s role in the discovery of this strange antiquarian beast was
recognized in its name Tullimonstrum
(Tully’s monster). The species name gregarium means “common” and refers to
the abundance of specimens of it. Ironically, “tull” means “nonsense” in
Norwegian --- also an apt description. Eventually it became the state fossil of Illinois.
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| Amateur fossil collector Francis Tully and and a fine complete specimen of his monster. |
Tullimonstrum was a free-swimming predator of
the open ocean. In spite of its abundant fossil record its evolutionary
relationships are poorly understood. Although similarities to a variety of
marine invertebrate groups has been suggested, none of these ideas are very
well supported and the creature’s evolutionary position remains a mystery.
So far this was an
interesting scientific story --- an enigmatic but abundant fossil species with
very, very peculiar morphology and unknown evolutionary relationships --- just the
kind of fossil that intrigues and puzzles paleontologists. However Tullimonstrum
would soon move beyond the pages of dry, scientific journals.
In July 1966
Richardson wrote a popular account of the Tully monster and his research on
it. This included a cover illustration
of restored Tullimonstrum swimming
and feeding in the ancient Pennsylvanian sea of Illinois. The story was picked up by the press and got
wide circulation in newspapers, including the East African Standard of the
former British Colonies of East Africa.
In September of
1966 Richardson received a letter from R.G.I. Cloudesley (a retired Lieutenant–Colonel
of the Kings African Rifles) then living in Nairobi, Kenya. Cloudesley recounted
that 40 years previously he had had been told by a Mr. A.M.A Champion (then
District Commander of Turkana and a skilled naturalist) about an unusual giant
worm that lived in the lakes of the area. Champion had heard about this
creature from local Africans but had never been able to actually obtain a
specimen. Cloudesley remembered the worm as having “paddles and a long snout” so
that when he read the news stories about the Tullimonstrum he thought it wise to pass this information on to
Richardson in case there was call to follow up on it.
As Richardson was
preparing a reply to Cloudesley a letter arrived from a Mr. Purshottan S. Patel
of Kenya reporting that something like the Tullimonstrum
might be living in Turkana, at least based on stories he had been told by relatives of a dancing worm in the lakes. Excited,
Richardson began researching what was known about the animal life in these areas. Turns out they were poorly explored and documented
areas of the Earth and such an animal might yet well dwell there
undiscovered by scientists.
Next Richardson get
a letter from an intermediate school teacher from Nakuru, a Mr. Joseph A. Ngomo,
who said that his class had read the Sunday Standard that carried the Tullimonstrum story and several students
told him they had heard of such a worm from their fathers. Ngomo included a note from Akai (son of Ekechalon)
who recounted, in child’s writing that the worms, swim and “wave hands” during
the full moon, and have a bite fatal to humans.
By this point
discussions started up at the Field Museum amongst Richardson and other staff
that, given the anecdotal but intriguing reports, an expedition might be warranted. Finding a living relative of the Tullimonstrum would be a really
important scientific discovery. The museum published a note in the Newsletter
of the East African Natural History Association, hoping more information might
be obtained, but there were no responses.
That was not too surprising given how little biological scientific work
had been done in those remote areas. Local myths and folklore sometimes prove
to be true.
Early the following
year the museum was visited by Dr. Bryan Patterson, a famous paleontologist who
studied fossil mammals. Patterson had
been the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Field Museum but was now a
professor at Harvard University. Patterson had just returned from field work in
Kenya and happened to know Patel’s uncle. He considered him a bit of a rascal. Richardson told Patterson of the Tullimonstrum and showed the various letters
to him. Patterson read them with
amusement and confessed he had never heard of the dancing worms.
Later it came to
light that Patterson had many reasons to be amused because Cloudesley, Ngomo,
Patel, and Akai turned out to be all the same person ---- none other than the
illustrious Bryan Patterson. Of the ten
people in the Field Museum who had been hoodwinked only one was in on Patterson’
little prank. That prevented it from going too far and causing professional or
institutional embarrassment, after all Patterson was running this from the
other side of the globe and couldn’t keep track of how the prank was
progressing. It was a clever joke that played on the desires, hopes, and scientific
passions of all involved. He was giving
the Field Museum what they wanted --- living relatives of the Tullimonstrum. If the
fossil wasn’t so perplexing and problematic it wouldn’t have been so alluring.
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| The illustrious Bryan Patterson and the illusive Dancing Worm of Turkana. |
One last bit to the story. Richardson received a Christmas letter in 1968 that on the front carried a photo of Bryan Patterson in full African field regalia holding a rifle in his right and and hanging from his left hand a recently shot good sized Tullimonstrum, with the proboscis and horizontal bar clearly visible. Inside was a poem and under the phrase "The End of the Hunt" were the signatures of Cloudsley, Ngomo,
Patel, and Akai!
The
staff took the leg pulling in good humor and admitted they had been had by a
professional. Several years later Richardson even wrote a short book, under
another name, about the Dancing Worms of Turkana. Edward Nash, the editor of the Bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History wrote an account of the whole story and admitted being taken in by it. He included a copy of the hunting photo as well as the inside of the card with the Kenyan signatures. He also reproduces in full, all the letters from Kenya concerning the discovery, only some of which I have mentioned here.
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Over the years there have been
several notrious incidents of intentional deception in paleontology, the 18th
century “lying stones” of Johann
Bartholomeus Adam Beringer and the early 20th century Piltdown Man
fake immediately come to mind. However,
those were done maliciously in an attempt to destroy the professional career of
a scientific rival. The Dancing Worms of
Turkana is a totally different beast, one done in good humor and with
precautions taken to not do any real damage.
Like many movies in the 1930s. the closing scene has everyone laughing
together side by side.
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| Artwork of Tullimonstrum, the state fossil of Illinois, can be seen emblazoned on the sides of U-Haul trucks and trailers. |
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Photos
Scientist's views: Johnson and Richardson 1969 (below)
Patterson and the Worm: Nash 1968 (below)
U-Haul artwork: http://sciencenotes.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/u-haul-graphics/
Sources
Johnson,
R.G, and Richardson, E.G. 1969. Pennsylvanian invertebrates of the Mazon Creek
area, Illinois: The morphology and affinities of Tullimonstrum. Fieldiana:
Geology 12 (8): 119–149.
Nash
E.G. 1968. The quest for the dancing
worm. Bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History 39(4): cover + 4-6 http://archive.org/details/cbarchive_107413_thequestforthedancingworm1966
Kloss,
G. June 18, 1968. The Great Dancing Worm Hoax. The Milwaukee
Journal.
Richardson,
E.G. 1966. Wormlike Fossil from the
Pennsylvanian of Illinois. Science 151(3706): 75-76
Richardson,
E.S. The tully monster. Bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History 37(7):
cover + 4-6. July 1966 <http://archive.org/details/bulletin37312fiel>
Rory,
E Scumas (Richardson,
E.G.) 1969. The Dancing Worm of Turkana. Vanishing Press: 27 pp.
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