Scientists Name Prehistoric Lizard after President Obama

Scientists from Yale and Harvard have named a newly discovered prehistoric lizard "Obamadon" in honor of President Obama’s toothy smile.

A fossil of the long extinct lizard was uncovered nearly 40 years ago in Montana, but mistakenly classified as a Leptochamops denticulatus.  Researchers say that after recent examination, they have determined it was indeed a different species.

Obamadon gracilis is one of nine newly named species unveiled this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In deciding on a name for the ancient reptile, scientists combined the modified Latin “Obamadon" for Obama's teeth and “gracilis,” meaning “slender.”

Paleontologists say the small lizard had long, straight teeth.  It was believed to have died out with the mass dinosaur extinction about 65 million years ago.

Borrowing famous names to classify organisms is not a new practice. Megalonyxx jeffersonii, an extinct species of ground sloth, was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, who was also an amateur paleontologist.

In 2005, entomologists named three species of North American slime-mold beetles after President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

President Obama’s namesake is also attached to a species of fish Ethiostoma obama, and a lichen, Caloplaca obamae.