Obamadon

Name: Obamadon ‭(‬Obama tooth‭)‬.
Phonetic: O-bah-mah-don.
Named By: Nicholas R.‭ ‬Longrich,‭ ‬Bhart-Anjan S.‭ ‬Bhullar‭ & ‬Jacques A.‭ ‬Gauthier‭ ‬-‭ ‬2013.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Squamata,‭ ‬Polyglyphanodontia.
Species: O.‭ ‬gracilis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Insectivore.
Size: Roughly‭ ‬30‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Montana‭ ‬-‭ ‬Hell Creek Formation,‭ ‬Wyoming‭ ‬-‭ ‬Lance Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Remains of two individuals,‭ ‬consisting of lower jaw fragments and teeth.

       What might have otherwise been an unassuming little lizard,‭ ‬has now become famous worldwide for being named after the‭ ‬44th president of the United States,‭ ‬Barack Obama.‭ ‬The full name Obamadon which means‭ ‬‘Obama tooth‭’ ‬is a reference to‭ ‬Barack Obama’s smile.
       Fossils of Obamadon were originally assigned to Leptochamops denticulatus,‭ ‬but a subsequent review of the fossils brought the realisation that two of the jaw fragments were from a unique and unknown genus.‭ ‬The teeth in the jaws are similar to those of other insectivorous lizards,‭ ‬and comparison to other genera has yielded a rough size estimate of about thirty centimetres long from nose to tail.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary,‭ ‬Nicholas R.‭ ‬Longrich,‭ ‬Bhart-Anjan S.‭ ‬Bhullar‭ & ‬Jacques A.‭ ‬Gauthier‭ ‬-‭ ‬2013.
- Correction for ‘Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary’, by Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, and Jacques A. Gauthier, which appeared in issue 52, December 26, 2012, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (109:21396–21401; first published December 10, 2012; 10.1073/pnas.1211526110). - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110 (16). - Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar & Jacques A. Gauthier - 2013.

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