New Ediacaran creatures named after Obama and Attenborough

[Halichoeres]

Two new Ediacaran animals from Australia have been named after Barack Obama and David Attenborough as a tribute to both men's commitment to science:


Obamus coronatus on left; Attenborites janeae on right.

Write-up in the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/06/20/the-sudden-political-life-of-a-550-million-year-old-immobile-sea-creature/

Paper describing Obamus (paywall): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08120099.2018.1479306
The paper describing Attenborites is still in press. I'll try to remember to add it here once it's out.

[Faelrin]

Yes more weird things from the ancient past. As much as I love Cambrian period fauna, I do enjoy seeing the rather simplistic looking things of the Ediacaran and appreciating how far multi-cellular life has come from such humble beginnings.

[Loon]

Can't wait for the ancient frog named after another political icon, Alex Jones.

[CityRaptor]

Obamus? For some reason that reminds me of a certain Autobot leader or two. Arise, Obamus Prime! Actually the second animal named after him, after Obamamdon. Attenborough of course also had something named after him, too.

[Halichoeres]

Can't wait for the ancient frog named after another political icon, Alex Jones.

What a grave insult to frogs that would be. Maybe some kind of Cordyceps fungus would be more fitting.

[Halichoeres]

I'm a bit late posting this, but the Attenborites paper was published a few months ago (paywalled but pdfs can be had).

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08120099.2018.1495668