Pre-historic lizard named after Obama

[islander]

Obamadon: Researchers Name Pre-historic Lizard After Smiling President


In the foreground, the carnivorous lizard Palaeosaniwa stalks a pair of hatchling Edmontosaurus as the snake Cerberophis and the lizard Obamadon look on. In the background, an encounter between T. rex and Triceratops. (Handout - Artwork by Carl Buell)

December 11, 2012

Researchers have named a newly discovered, pre-historic lizard Obamadon gracilis in honor of the 44th president's toothy grin.

The small, insect-eating lizard was first discovered in eastern Montana in 1974, but a recent re-examination showed the fossil had been wrongly classified as a Leptochamops denticulatus and was, in fact, a new species, researchers told Reuters on Tuesday.

Obamadon gracilis was one of nine newly discovered species reported on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In naming the new species, scientists from Yale and Harvard universities combined the Latin ``Obamadon'' for ``Obama's teeth'' and ``gracilis,'' which means slender.

[islander]

"The lizard has these very tall, straight teeth and Obama has these tall, straight incisors and a great smile,'' said Nick Longrich, a paleontologist at the school in New Haven, Connecticut.

It was believed to have lived during the Cretaceous Period, which began 145.5 million years ago. Along with many dinosaurs from that era, the lizard died out about 65 million years ago when a giant asteroid struck earth, scientists say.

Longrich said he waited until after the recent U.S. election to name the lizard.

"It would look like we were kicking him when he's down if he lost and we named this extinct lizard after him,'' he said in an interview.

[islander]

"Romneydon'' was never under consideration and "Clintondon'' didn't sound good, said Longrich, who supported Hillary Clinton's failed run against Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary.

Obama is not the first politician whose name has been used to help classify organisms. Megalonyxx jeffersonii, an extinct species of plant-eating ground sloth, was named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson, an amateur paleontologist who studied the mammal.

[islander]

In 2005, entomologists named three species of North American slime-mold beetles agathidium bushi, agathidium cheneyi and agathidium rumsfeldi in honor of the then-president, vice president and secretary of defense.

Other celebrity names also have been used to name new species. A small Caribbean crustacean has been named after reggae icon Bob Marley, an Australian horsefly has been named in honor of hip-hop star Beyonce, and an endangered species of marsh rabbit has been named after Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

http://www.voanews.com/

[hubag bohol]

Hmm, daghang bayang mga pangalan diris TB nga angayan himoong scientific names...

[islander]

gitagaan na bitaw ka ni balong ug scientific name sa una.

[hubag bohol]

gitagaan na bitaw ka ni balong ug scientific name sa una.

Hmm, kant rimimbir...

[islander]

Hmm, kant rimimbir...

i'll help you then... mora man to ug hubagamus erasmus man tingali to, named after a long-lost relative of a three-toed dinosaur.

[Chongki]

i hope theyll discover a pre-historic ok-ok and name it gloria arroyo

[hubag bohol]

i'll help you then... mora man to ug hubagamus erasmus man tingali to, named after a long-lost relative of a three-toed dinosaur.

Aw, kadto. NDE ravings man to...

[islander]

i hope theyll discover a pre-historic ok-ok and name it gloria arroyo

gagmay kaayo ni sila, masaypan pa gani nga karapata...

blatta gloriam arroyis orientalis, ate glue in entomology laboratory lingo.

[hubag bohol]

i'll help you then... mora man to ug hubagamus erasmus man tingali to, named after a long-lost relative of a three-toed dinosaur.

Aw, sakto. A stroke of genius, indeed...

[hubag bohol]

i hope theyll discover a pre-historic ok-ok and name it gloria arroyo

Kanang maputlan og ulo unya di lang kay mabuhi gihapon, mosamot hinuon kaabtik...