Here’s one effect of the 2012 presidential election we hadn’t considered. Scientists from Yale say they would not have named an extinct lizard after President Obama had he not won reelection. “It might have seemed like we were mocking it, naming a lizard that goes extinct after that, seemed kind of cruel,” said paleontologist Nicholas Longrich. Obama won, however, and so we have Obamadon. Hey, it makes as much sense as that Nobel Peace Prize.
OBAMADON! Newly described prehistoric lizard. Apparently it was no match for massive space rocks, sadly. I'd like a pet obamadon.
— Allison Dehnel (@AllisonDehnel) December 10, 2012
Yale scientists name a small, slim, insect-eating lizard "Obamadon." It's been extinct for 65 million years. http://t.co/EdwWTQo1
— Nancy Schoeffler (@nschoeffler) December 10, 2012
https://twitter.com/mims/status/278263742377107456
It’s not, unless you were a bug. The Obamadon is not a dinosaur, but rather a small lizard less than a foot long which went extinct 65 million years ago. Apparently there was another fossil in line for the name, but that “ferocious carnivorous lizard” was not considered as “presidential” as the slender-jawed insect eater.
Newt Gingrich despondent. RT @owillis Obamadon: Prehistoric Lizard Named After President Obama http://t.co/gCgwPV6A
— Seth D. Michaels, Indoor Kid (@sethdmichaels) December 10, 2012
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