Ep #87 Anvil Sharks, Lampreys & Ratfish with Head-Sprouting Teeth featuring Vertebrate Paleontologist Michael Coates

EP 87 Paleo Nerds with Michael Coates

Earliest TEETH article
This article explores groundbreaking research into the earliest evidence of teeth in vertebrates. It shows how teeth evolved from sensory tissue in armored jawless fishes, changing how scientists think about the origins of jaws and feeding.

Mike Coates, Vertebrate Paleontologist, and Chair of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Michael Coates is a leading vertebrate paleontologist and Chair at the University of Chicago. His faculty page highlights his expertise in early vertebrate evolution, anatomy, and the origins of fishes.

The fossils of Suffolk Coast
The Suffolk coast of England is rich in fossils, from ancient shark teeth to Ice Age remains. This article describes how to explore the cliffs and beaches where fossil hunting has fascinated generations.

Lamprey fossils rewrite vertebrate origins
Lampreys, modern jawless fishes, hold clues to our deep evolutionary past. This University of Chicago article explains how new fossil discoveries have upended long-held theories about the origins of vertebrates.

The Coates Lab
The Coates Lab at the University of Chicago is dedicated to studying vertebrate origins. This page introduces the lab members and their diverse projects, all focused on understanding the earliest fishes and the roots of the vertebrate body plan.

The Bony Fishes
Osteichthyes, or bony fishes, represent the largest group of vertebrates on Earth today. This page covers their anatomy, diversity, and evolutionary history, including the lineage that led to amphibians and eventually humans.

The Cartilaginous fishes
Chondrichthyes include sharks, rays, and chimaeras, fishes with skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone. This article explores their anatomy, evolution, and their role as some of the ocean’s top predators.

Cyclostomes: The jawless fishes
Cyclostomes are the living jawless fishes, including lampreys and hagfishes. This page describes their biology and why they are so important for studying vertebrate ancestry.

Acanthodians: The spiny Sharks
Acanthodians, often called spiny sharks, were early jawed fishes covered with spines. This entry explains their place in vertebrate evolution and how they bridge the gap between cartilaginous and bony fishes.

The First Vertebrates
This article suggests that the first vertebrates arose in shallow coastal waters over half a billion years ago. It details the environmental conditions that may have sparked the dawn of backboned animals.

The first Teeth
A look at the earliest known teeth from Ordovician fishes, showing how these structures were first used for grasping and sensory functions before becoming tools for cutting and chewing.

The origin of vertebrate teeth and Evolution of Sensory Exoskeletons Video
This video explains how vertebrate teeth may have evolved from external sensory tissues, linking scales, armor, and oral structures in early fishes.

Tantalizing Tantalepis
Tantalepis is one of the oldest known fishes, pushing back the timeline of vertebrate evolution. This article introduces the fossil evidence and its significance for understanding early vertebrates.

Astraspids; The first armored jawless vertebrates
Astraspids were among the first armored jawless vertebrates, covered in heavy plates for protection. This piece highlights their unique fossils and place in vertebrate history.

Fun to say, “Sacabambaspis” – The Ordovician Jawless fish referenced in the Alan Pradel Paleo Nerds Episode
Sacabambaspis, a jawless fish with a mouth shaped like a slit, lived during the Ordovician. Its strange name and features make it a memorable fossil favorite.

John Long’s Materpiscis, the first evidence of an embryo
Materpiscis is famous for preserving the earliest evidence of live birth in vertebrates. A fossil of this Devonian fish contains an embryo and umbilical cord.

John Long’s Paleo Nerds episode
In this Paleo Nerds episode, John Long talks about his fossil discoveries in Australia, including Materpiscis, and what they tell us about reproduction in early vertebrates.

John Long’s paper on the origin of gnathostome internal fertilization
This scientific paper details fossil evidence for internal fertilization in early jawed vertebrates, helping establish when sex as we know it first evolved.

Ray Troll’s dream fish, the Ratfish
The spotted ratfish is a strange deep-sea fish related to sharks. This Shedd Aquarium feature introduces its biology and why Ray Troll is so fascinated with it.

Helodus, mostly known only by its teeth
Helodus was a prehistoric fish primarily known from its teeth. This entry highlights what paleontologists can learn even from fragmentary remains.

The Buzz Saw Shark – Helicoprion (3D interactive)
Helicoprion was a bizarre sharklike fish with a spiral of teeth shaped like a buzz saw. This page includes a 3D interactive model to explore this prehistoric oddity.

A Ratfish named Troll
Ray Troll was honored with a namesake fish, a ratfish species described with his name. This link tells the quirky story behind it.

A Ratfish Tenaculum on its forehead!
Ratfishes have a peculiar reproductive organ called a tenaculum on their heads. This forum post explores its odd biology and appearance.

The business end of the Lamprey
Lampreys feed with circular sucker mouths lined with sharp teeth. This Smithsonian page shows what those fearsome lips look like up close.

Mazon Creek Fossil Beds
Mazon Creek in Illinois is a world-famous fossil site preserving soft-bodied organisms in ironstone nodules. This page introduces its unique Paleozoic treasures.

The Tully Monster
The Tully Monster, Illinois’ state fossil, has puzzled paleontologists for decades. This Field Museum article explains the latest research into this strange soft-bodied creature.

Conodonts – eel-like animals existing for 300 million years
Conodonts were tiny, eel-like vertebrates with complex tooth-like elements. They survived for 300 million years and are key to dating Paleozoic rocks.

Ostracoderms: Armored Jawless fishes
Ostracoderms were armored jawless fishes that dominated Paleozoic seas. Their bony plates are among the earliest evidence of vertebrate armor.

Gnathosomes – over 60,000 species of extant vertebrates, comprising 99% of all extant vertebrates
Gnathosomes are jawed vertebrates, a group that today includes most living animals with backbones. This page explains their evolutionary success and diversity.

Heterostracans – extinct jawless fishes, some of the oldest vertebrates
Heterostracans were extinct armored jawless fishes with flattened bodies. This article highlights new research on these early vertebrates.

Arandaspids – another old jawless fish
Arandaspids are among the oldest known vertebrates, jawless fishes from the Ordovician. Their fossils provide crucial insight into early vertebrate anatomy.

Galeaspids – extinct jawless fishes with a large opening on the dorsal surface of their head shield
Galeaspids were armored jawless fishes from China, with a distinctive hole on top of their head shields. This page introduces their anatomy and fossil record.

Ostracoderms represent all armored jawless fishes
Another overview of ostracoderms, emphasizing their diversity and role as early armored pioneers among vertebrates.

The Kellwasser Event – the major extinction in the Devonian
The Kellwasser Event was one of two major extinction pulses in the Devonian, wiping out many reef builders and fishes. This page summarizes its causes and impact.

The Hangenberg Extinction event – last stage of the Devonian
The Hangenberg Event closed the Devonian with a mass extinction that reshaped vertebrate evolution. This entry outlines what vanished and what survived.

You don’t want to swim with a Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus was a giant armored fish of the Devonian seas, with powerful jaws that could crush almost anything. This page explains why it was one of prehistory’s top predators.

Tiktaalik – a very iconic lobed-finned fish/tetrapod
Tiktaalik is the famous “fishapod,” a lobe-finned fish with limb-like fins. Its discovery in Arctic Canada showed a crucial step in the transition from water to land.

Acanthostega – one of the first vertebrates to have recognizable limbs
Acanthostega lived around 365 million years ago and had true limbs with digits. It is one of the earliest vertebrates showing adaptations to both water and land.

Harpagofututor – what the hell?
Harpagofututor is a strange fossil shark relative from the Carboniferous, known for its bizarre head and teeth. This illustrated entry captures its odd features.

Michael Coates’ time travel destination: The Kirkton Quarry
East Kirkton Quarry in Scotland preserves a rich Carboniferous ecosystem of early tetrapods, plants, and arthropods. It’s a favorite fossil site for paleontologists like Michael Coates.

Bearsden Fossil Quarry in Glasgow
Bearsden Quarry preserves a unique fossil of a shark-like creature with soft tissues. This BBC article highlights its importance and the community’s effort to protect the site.

Akmonistion or the Stethacanthus – The Anvil/Sail Shark
Stethacanthus was a sharklike fish with a strange anvil-shaped dorsal fin. This page explains what we know about its unusual anatomy.

Michael’s mentor and collaborator, the enigmatic Stan Wood
Stan Wood was a Scottish fossil hunter who discovered many important sites. This page introduces his life and influence, including his collaborations with scientists like Michael Coates.

Bear Gulch Limestone
The Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana is a famous fossil site preserving an entire ecosystem of fishes and invertebrates from the Carboniferous. This page describes its significance.

Dr. Coates’ talk on science and wonder
In this recorded talk, Michael Coates shares his passion for science and the sense of wonder that drives paleontology, blending research insights with inspiration.

MUSIC
Summertime by the Amish Robots
Taxi by the Amish Robots
Good to Feel by Patrick Troll
Seconds in a Lifetime by Russell Wodehouse
Garbo by Whiskey Class
Fossil Freeway by Ratfish Wranglers