Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

Meet the Obamadon gracilis, a prehistoric lizard, is a newly discovered species of dinosaur that was reportedly named after our President Barack Obama because of his broad smile, reports USA Today.

SEE ALSO: Karl Rove’s New Obama Ad Trumpets ‘Us Vs. Them’

Hmmm…well, OK.

Obamadon gracilis was one of nine newly discovered species reported on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  According to researchers at Yale University, the Latin translation of Obamadon is “Obama’s teeth” while gracilis means “slender.” Dr. Nick Longrich, a Yale paleontologist explained to USA Today, “The lizard has these very tall, straight teeth and Obama has these tall, straight incisors and a great smile.”

Watch news coverage of Obamadon here:

The prehistoric lizard reportedly disappeared from this earth some 65 million years ago, after an asteroid struck the planet.

Dr. Longrich says that he and his team of scientists waited until the presidential election results were in, and it was at that point they decided to name the latest prehistoric find.  “It would look like we were kicking him when he’s down if he lost and we named this extinct lizard after him,” says Dr. Longrich.

President Obama is not the only famous person who has had the interesting honor of having had a dinosaur named after him. The late-reggae star Bob Marley had his name given to a small Caribbean crustacean. Pop star Beyoncé even had an Australian horsefly named after her.

Go figure.