By Laura Geggel, Senior
Writer | June 21, 2018 06:36am ET
The ears of former U.S. President Barack
Obama are so distinct, they inspired the scientific name of a newly identified,
550-million-year-old critter: Obamus
coronatus.
Researchers unearthed fossils of the enigmatic
organism in South Australia. In a new study, they described the circular,
wreath-shaped creature as having raised, spiraled grooves that turned
clockwise.
During O. coronatus' lifetime, in the Ediacara,
a period lasting from about 635 million to 542 million years ago, the creature
likely lived at the bottom of the ocean floor. There, the marine animal
probably lived an immobile life, embedded to the ocean mat — a thick layer of
organic matter that covered the early ocean floor, the researchers said. [11
Animals Named After US Presidents]
The O. coronatus fossils
weren't found in just one location. The researchers found 36 of the O. coronatus specimens in the
Nilpena National Heritage Site, a region known for its Ediacara fossils. The
scientists also found several "orphan" specimens on their lonesome in
two other spots in the Ediacara Conservation Park.
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