Apparently Moderna hero Dolly Parton's not the only musician on the frontier of scientific discovery.
Scientists have named three fossils from a new brittle star species uncovered in France, Austria and Luxembourg — on what was once the bed of the Jurassic Tethys Ocean — Ophiogojira after the French metal band Gojira.
Luxembourg's Natural History Museum scientists Lea Numberger and Ben Thuy were responsible for discovering and naming the fossils, alongside biologist Tania Pineda of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Each of the three brittle stars were named after members of the band: Ophiogojira andreui in honour of lead guitarist Christian Andreu, Ophiogojira labadiei for bassist Jean-Michel Labadie and Ophioduplantiera noctiluca to commemorate Mario and Joe Duplantier.
In the researchers' Royal Society Publishing report on the discovery, they explained: "Genus named in honour of French metal band Gojira, for producing songs of an unfathomable intensity, beautifully dark and heavy, and exploring the abyss of life and death, of human strength and error, and of thriving and yet threatened oceans."
The 190-million-year-old brittle star species was introduced to Gojira's fans on Instagram two days ago, with the band proudly sharing that they're "now part of Earth's history, and a small step closer to immortality."
And honestly, what's more metal than palaeontology?
Check out the band's Instagram post introducing the world to their ancient fossil babies below.
Gojira's latest record Fortitude made the list of Exclaim!'s 31 best albums of 2021 so far.
Scientists have named three fossils from a new brittle star species uncovered in France, Austria and Luxembourg — on what was once the bed of the Jurassic Tethys Ocean — Ophiogojira after the French metal band Gojira.
Luxembourg's Natural History Museum scientists Lea Numberger and Ben Thuy were responsible for discovering and naming the fossils, alongside biologist Tania Pineda of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Each of the three brittle stars were named after members of the band: Ophiogojira andreui in honour of lead guitarist Christian Andreu, Ophiogojira labadiei for bassist Jean-Michel Labadie and Ophioduplantiera noctiluca to commemorate Mario and Joe Duplantier.
In the researchers' Royal Society Publishing report on the discovery, they explained: "Genus named in honour of French metal band Gojira, for producing songs of an unfathomable intensity, beautifully dark and heavy, and exploring the abyss of life and death, of human strength and error, and of thriving and yet threatened oceans."
The 190-million-year-old brittle star species was introduced to Gojira's fans on Instagram two days ago, with the band proudly sharing that they're "now part of Earth's history, and a small step closer to immortality."
And honestly, what's more metal than palaeontology?
Check out the band's Instagram post introducing the world to their ancient fossil babies below.
Gojira's latest record Fortitude made the list of Exclaim!'s 31 best albums of 2021 so far.
