Newly Discovered Ancient Sea Creature Named After Barack Obama

Research from the University of California-Riverside have discovered two new ancient sea creatures in a well-preserved fossil bed in a mountain range in southern Australia, and named one Obamus coronatus, after former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Obamus coronatus was a tiny disc-shaped animal that was about half of an inch long, with raised spiral grooves on the surface, that lived a sedentary life, spending it’s whole life embedded in the ocean floor, according to Tech Times.

According to the scientists, Obamus coronatus was named after Obama because of the his strong passion for science, while coronatus stands for “crowned.”

The other sea creature discovered, Attenborites janeae, was named after the less famous naturalist and broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough and Jane Fargher, the co-owner of the property where the fossils were discovered.

However, this is not the only creature named after the former president, as they are actually eight other animals associated with Obama.

A few of these animals include: the Obamadon gracillis, a lizard that lived 5 million years ago, the Aptostichus barackobamai, a trapdoor spider that lives in the redwoods of California, and the Tosanoides Obama, a coral reef basslet that lives exclusively on the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.