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Scientists Named Extinct, Insect-Eating Lizard ‘Obamadon’ After…Guess Who

Dec. 11, 2012 1:59pm

Although it became extinct after the same event that wiped out the dinosaurs, scientists have recently identified an insect-eating lizard, naming it after our present-day Commander-in-Chief. Meet “Obamadon,” scientifically known as Obamadon gracilis.

Discovered by researchers at Yale and Harvard University, Obamadon was part of a branch of lizards called Polyglyphanodontia, which was one of the lizard groups that disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous. In fact, according to Yale’s press release, close to 83 percent of all snake and lizard species, especially those larger than one pound, were killed during the mass extinction 65.5 million years ago.

Yale, Harvard Study Identifies Unnamed Species of Extinct Lizard Obamadon

The smaller blue-grey lizard watching the action in this artist’s rendering is Obamadon. (Image: Carl Buell via Yale)

“It is a small polyglyphanodontian distinguished by tall, slender teeth with large central cusps separated from small accessory cusps by lingual grooves,” the scientists wrote of Obamadon, which according to Yale’s press release was researched almost entirely from just two jaw bones. It is estimated the lizard was less than a foot long.

The study’s lead author Nicholas Longrich with Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics said they were “just having fun with taxonomy” when they chose the name to describe the lizard.

Longrich admitted to NBC that it was “sort of a smart-ass comment,” but said in Yale’s announcement there wasn’t any political significance to the naming.

According to the Yale, odon means “tooth” in Latin and gracilis means “slender.”

This isn’t the first time Obama has been invoked as a namesake for newly discovered species. In 2009, a new type of lichen was named after the president (Caloplaca obamae).

Harvard co-author Bhart-Anjan Bhullar said the fact that they were able to reconstruct the relationships of the lizards from only jaw material is an important factor in the study.

“This had tacitly been thought impossible for creatures other than mammals,” Bhullar said. “Our study then becomes the pilot for a wave of inquiry using neglected fossils and underscores the importance of museums like the Yale Peabody as archives of primary data on evolution — data that yield richer insights with each new era of scientific investigation.”

The study, which delves into how more snake and lizard species than previously thought died off after the asteroid hit, was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week. Eight other new species of lizards and snakes were named from the team’s research as well.

(H/T: Gizmodo, NBC News)

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Comments (86)

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  • MadeMyDay
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 3:01pm

    They forgot the ears.

    Report this comment

    MadeMyDay  
  • tzion
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:56pm

    Always knew he was cold-blooded.

    Report this comment

    tzion  
    • Durtypoon
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 6:46pm

      “Obamadon” was a community organizer that lead to the extinction of his own species.

      Gee – History REALLY does repeat itself.

      Report this comment

      Durtypoon  
  • Tickdog
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:53pm

    yeah i wished that POS was extinct.

    Report this comment

    Tickdog  
  • bonesiii
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:51pm

    LOL out loud!

    Big blunder, people — you’ve now given us a great nickname for the guy whose archaic socialist (not socialite, for the moron trivia contestants) policies belong in the fossil record.

    Barack Obamadon.

    Report this comment

    bonesiii  
  • NHwinter
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:48pm

    40 years from now history will write of Obama in the same way they wrote about Hiltler. To name a lizard after him is absurb.

    Report this comment

    NHwinter  
    • The_Jerk
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:55pm

      He’s more Lenin than Hitler. Hitler was a nationalist that loved his nation. Lenin was an international communist, like Obama. Obama despises America.

      Report this comment

      The_Jerk  
    • CWPrequired
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 3:25pm

      You got that one right Jerk.

      Report this comment

      CWPrequired  
    • barber2
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 3:27pm

      Jerk: I think you hit the mark on that distinction! But the Chicago radicals sort of combine the worst of both of these Big Brother types . The MIC checks and the propaganda arm use of the media is very Hitler like , as well as the jack-booted intimidation. But guess Big Brother types, like the Muslim Brotherhood , all use these strong armed tactics. Democrat ? Hardly….My way or the highway…

      Report this comment

      barber2  
    • Keatonc33
      Posted on December 12, 2012 at 5:41pm

      Hitler was a nationalist who loves his nation…. except of course for any cripples, jews, midgets, blacks, homosexuals, gypsies, a POW, Mentally disabled, people with hereditary diseases, deaf people, jehovahs witnesses, alcoholics, pacifists, and beggars. other than that ya loved his country…

      Report this comment

      Keatonc33  
  • shagstar
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:43pm

    considering that he has acknowledged the fact that he eat’s doggie burgers,,what difference does it make that he and moochelle also eat wheelbarrows of cockroaches for snacks?

    Report this comment

    shagstar  
  • darthtyran
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:39pm

    Obama is a reptile, cold-blooded, venomous, and slimy. I however can see insulting a species of insect eating reptiles with his name. Perhaps if the reptile were a dung eater it may be appropriate.

    Report this comment

    darthtyran  
  • jessieH
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:37pm

    Call me when you have an extinct communist president.

    Report this comment

    jessieH  
  • TH30PH1LUS
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:34pm

    Makes me laugh every time hear some “athiest” claim to “believe in science”. The lab coat has replaced the priestly robe – science is the new religon of many, but their followers fail to see that the institution is every bit as corrupt as any other.

    Funded by political dollars, many within the scientific community actively supress information that refutes the doctrine of Darwinism. They tried to kill the career of Bryan Sykes when his genetic work showed that all humans are genetically related. Also check out a work called Forbidden Archaeology.

    This article shows how politics is the hand inside the glove of “modern” science.

    Report this comment

    TH30PH1LUS  
  • copatriots
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:30pm

    Perfectly named. It’s the same result 0bama wants for Americans…..especially white ones.

    “….close to 83 percent of all snake and lizard species, especially those larger than one pound, were killed during the mass extinction”

    Report this comment

     
  • The_Jerk
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:26pm

    Are those scientists being racist calling him a lower form of life, a belly crawling, slimy, slithering reptile? One would think that he at least deserves to be in the Hominidae family, somewhere between the bonobos and chimpanzees.

    Report this comment

    The_Jerk  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:05pm

      How does he deserve it?

      I’d even prefer a honest-to-god reptile to Obamadon.

      Report this comment

      Twobyfour  
  • ArmedAndReallyPissed
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:24pm

    Even though far from extinct, it would be much more appropriate to re-name the Dung Beetle after the CLOTUS.

    Report this comment

    ArmedAndReallyPissed  
  • UNALIEN
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:21pm

    So, the Obama lizard lived back when the Earth was much warmer and more lush with vegetation… before Manmade Global Warming,, er uh,, wait,, Obama lizard lived before Global Warming but the earth was warmer,, no that can’t be right…

    Report this comment

    UNALIEN  
    • starman70
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:39pm

      This lizard’s specialties were, 1) Destroying the economy of the Time. 2) Causing the landmass on which it lived to go trillions of rocks into debt. 3) Causing massive unemployment among all creatures living at that time. 4) Creating an unfundable system of healthcare for every living lizard, bird, dinosaur, sea creature and mammal living at the time. 5) Taxing the residents of his/her landmass to such an extent that the entire populace couldn’t afford any luxuries. 6) Instituting a Socialist/Communist system of government.
      6) Taking mnumerous, elaborate and expensive vacations to areas and lands where high rollers (of rocks) and other creatures used curved sticks to try to propel round rocks into holes dug into the soil.
      7) Appointing only lizards from his home area to be his advisors. 8) Learning from and following the advice of mentors who wanted to overthrow the government of the time by violent applications of volcanic lava and ash.

      Gee, no wonder they named it OBAMADON!

      Report this comment

      starman70  
  • Gary_K
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:21pm

    That’s nothing, I renamed my T paper flobama.

    Report this comment

    Gary_K  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:11pm

      Reminds me of an idea of TP with a printed Obanadon’s (I don’t mean here the unfurtunate lizard). portrait on it. I think it may be a great success commercially. Potentially near half of the US population may be buyers.

      Report this comment

      Twobyfour  
  • Mandors
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:17pm

    Obamadon: “extinct, insect-eating, lizard.”

    Oh, if only the extinct part were true.

    Report this comment

    Mandors  
  • huey6367
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:14pm

    He should probably be nominated for additional Nobel Peace prizes, as well.

    Report this comment

    huey6367  
  • huey6367
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:12pm

    A predator whose policies are extinct? And he relies on insects (some of which may be parasitic). Sounds like a perfect name to me.

    Report this comment

    huey6367  
  • spfoam1
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:11pm

    Obamadon, an extinct insect eating lizard? LOL If anyone else said that they would be called a racist. I wonder if it resembled a monitor lizard in appearance, but could change its color depending on the crowd around it, like a chameleon?

    Report this comment

    spfoam1  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:11pm

    Fitting.

    Report this comment

    Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • countryfirst
      Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:50am

      It took billions of years for an Insect eating lizard to evolve into a dog eating **** Sapien, then rapidly mentored into a Country destroying Socialist/Marxist. You can’t argue with the facts.

      Report this comment

      countryfirst  
  • goahead.makemyday
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:10pm

    I always wondered how scientists came up with colors for dinosaurs, there is no skin left so how do they know? Also now the THE Obama is starting to lose it’s grasp on its worshipers and they are showing their true beliefs.
    ALL HAIL THE OBAMA! OUR LORD AND SAVIOR AND KING OF ALL MANKIND!

    Report this comment

    goahead.makemyday  
  • RoDogg
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:09pm

    I swear the people in this country are looking more and more like the people in NKorea. They idolize their dear leader while he is starving them to death and brainwashing them from birth. When I see obozo supporters I can’t help but think about a national geographic episode where an eye doctor was correcting people’s vision loss and the first thing they did after regaining sight was to praise their dear leader. That is how I feel about obozo supporters and these idiots that named an extinct species after this fraud.

    Report this comment

    RoDogg  
    • KangarooJack
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:19pm

      lol – don’t give up the ship. Reality will hit for some in Jan. ’13-MOST not till Apr. ’13.

      Report this comment

      KangarooJack  
  • TheBurningTruth
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:09pm

    I wonder if the Nobel committee will award the “Interspecies Peace Price” to this carnivorous animal that survived by killing and eating other creatures. That would be fitting for both the Nobel Committee as well as the Kenyan.

    Report this comment

    TheBurningTruth  
  • GBTVFan_Non_American_Overseas
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:09pm

    It will be more appropriate if they name a vicious kind of cancer after him.

    Report this comment

    GBTVFan_Non_American_Overseas  
    • momrules
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:24pm

      Yes. A new voracious, horrifyingly fast growing cancer that lays waste to it’s host body and systematically destroys it moving rapidly from organ to organ and immune to conventional treatment.

      Report this comment

      momrules  
    • Cavallo
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:36pm

      Flesh eating bacteria. Necrotizing fasciitis.

      Report this comment

      Cavallo  
  • capitalismrocks
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:07pm

    So Scientists see our current President as an insect eating lizard… how fitting.

    Report this comment

    capitalismrocks  
    • Betterdaysrcoming
      Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:42pm

      Remember about 2 years ago Obama was giving a speech and a fly happened to fly into Obama’s space? Obama reached out and caught it with his hand.

      Report this comment

      Betterdaysrcoming  
  • right-wing-waco
    Posted on December 11, 2012 at 2:06pm

    How very very stupid.

    Report this comment

    right-wing-waco  
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