Henry Rollins famously proclaimed back in the '80s that he "can't decide anything," but a group of UK scientists have formally selected a name for a newly discovered fossil. In honour of the former Black Flag vocalist's long-chiseled physique, they've gone ahead and named the muscly fireworm fossil the Rollinschaeta myoplena.
The fossil was discovered by scientists from the University of Bristol and the Natural History Museum. Phys.org explains that the worm, a polychaete annelid, is a distant marine relative of leeches and earthworms. Though the soft-bodied polychaete are rarely found in fossil form, this discovery allowed researchers to study the many muscle groups of the creature.
"Fossil muscle tissue is rare and usually not described in any detail by paleontologists, but our discovery highlights that soft tissues preserved in fossils can offer details approaching what we can observe in living organisms," PhD student Luke Parry said in a statement. "When choosing a name for our muscly beast, we decided to honour Henry Rollins, the legendary, muscular frontman of L.A. punk band Black Flag."
The study also revealed that Rollinschaeta's current day relatives are predatory fireworms that live on coral reefs.
Rollins has yet to comment on the honour, but will soon appear in "the loudest silent movie on earth," Gutterdämmerung.
The fossil was discovered by scientists from the University of Bristol and the Natural History Museum. Phys.org explains that the worm, a polychaete annelid, is a distant marine relative of leeches and earthworms. Though the soft-bodied polychaete are rarely found in fossil form, this discovery allowed researchers to study the many muscle groups of the creature.
"Fossil muscle tissue is rare and usually not described in any detail by paleontologists, but our discovery highlights that soft tissues preserved in fossils can offer details approaching what we can observe in living organisms," PhD student Luke Parry said in a statement. "When choosing a name for our muscly beast, we decided to honour Henry Rollins, the legendary, muscular frontman of L.A. punk band Black Flag."
The study also revealed that Rollinschaeta's current day relatives are predatory fireworms that live on coral reefs.
Rollins has yet to comment on the honour, but will soon appear in "the loudest silent movie on earth," Gutterdämmerung.
