A 328 million-year-old ancestor of the vampire squid was named after President Joe Biden, Gizmodo reported Tuesday.
The vampire squid’s ancestor had 10 arms and was named Syllipsimopodi bideni, according to Gizmodo. The name was chosen because the research team submitted a paper on the species shortly after Biden’s inauguration. In addition, the fossil is the oldest known vampyropod, and Biden is the oldest person to be elected president, the outlet also noted.
The research team published a description of the fossil Tuesday in the scientific journal Nature Communications, the outlet reported.
Before dinosaurs roamed Earth, an ancestor of octopuses and vampire squid did. Scientists found a 330 million year old fossil of this new 10-limbed species in Montana, naming it Syllipsimopodi bideni, after President Biden. @larsonchristina reports. https://t.co/pZJiBNtwSX
— @borenbears (@borenbears) March 8, 2022
The vampire squid’s ancestor lived in Montana and is believed to be the “first cephalopod to have suckers on its arms,” scientists said, according to Gizmodo.
Whalen, a paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History, shared that the fossil was also named after Biden because he and Landman were “encouraged” by the president’s “plans to address climate change and fund scientific research,” The New York Times (NYT) reported. Former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama have also had species named after them, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Hurricane Survivor Tells The President He Named His Dog After Him – Trump’s Reaction Is Perfect)
“This was sitting in a museum since the ’80s, and no one realized it was important,” Whalen told the NYT. “We chanced on that importance because I happened to notice the arm suckers.”
The fossil was discovered in Montana’s Bear Gulch limestone formation, according to The Associated Press. It was donated to the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada in 1988.