Obamus

Obamus coronatus is a torus-shaped Ediacaran fossil from the Rawnsley Quartzite of South Australia named in honor of former American President Barack Obama.[1]

Obamus
Temporal range: Ediacaran ~555 Ma
artist's reconstruction
Scientific classification
(unranked):
Genus:
Obamus
Species:
O. coronatus
Binomial name
Obamus coronatus
Dzaugis et al., 2018

Morphology

The fossils show a multi-ridged body embedded in the biofilm of the original environment, with one end of the body tucked into or beneath the other end to form a ring, so that the living organism would have resembled a French cruller doughnut.

Etymology

The generic epithet honors President Obama, partly in reference to his love and patronage of the sciences, and allegedly because the fossil organisms resemble his ear.[1] The specific epithet, "coronatus," meaning "wreath," refers to the torus or ring-shape of the fossils.[1]

References

  1. Dzaugis, P. W.; Evans, S. D.; Droser, M. L.; Gehling, J. G.; Hughes, I. V. (2018). "Stuck in the mat: Obamus coronatus, a new benthic organism from the Ediacara Member, Rawnsley Quartzite, South Australia". Australian Journal of Earth Sciences: 1–7. doi:10.1080/08120099.2018.1479306.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.