An extinct 'water pig' with 'tactile lips' has been named after Mick Jagger. The 19-million-year-old anthracotheres - a species which has been likened to a kind of 'long-legged pig' - was named in honour of The Rolling Stones frontman because of its "tactile lips". Recently discovered in Egypt than...
An extinct ‘water pig’ with ‘tactile lips’ has been named after Mick Jagger.
The 19-million-year-old anthracotheres – a species which has been likened to a kind of ‘long-legged pig’ – was named in honour of The Rolling Stones frontman because of its “tactile lips”. Recently discovered in Egypt thanks to the finding of pieces of fossilised jaw, it has been named Jaggermeryx naida, which means ‘Jagger’s water nymph’.
Associate professor at Wake University Ellen Miller co-authored the paper announcing the discovery in the Journal of Paleontology, revealing the naming of the species. “I’m a huge Stones fan,” said Miller, adding that the creature’s “highly innervated muzzle with mobile and tactile lips” reminded her of Jagger, reports The Guardian. “We imagine [the animal’s] lifestyle was like that of a water deer, standing in water and foraging for plants along the river bank,” added Miller.
Meanwhile, the real life Mick Jagger is among more than 200 celebrities to sign an open letter urging Scottish voters to keep Scotland as part of the United Kingdom. An independence referendum will be held on September 18 which could see Scotland break away from the rest of the UK. The letter, which was organised by historians Dan Snow and Tom Holland, aims to let people in Scotland know that those who have endorsed the message “value the bond of citizenship” with those north of the border.
The letter is part of the Let’s Stay Together campaign that aims to give a voice to those who are not allowed to vote in the referendum. “We believe that the key missing message is a positive, emotional one: not telling the Scottish electorate what to do or what not to do, but telling them how we feel about Scotland, about being part of the UK and about our collective place in the world,” Snow and Holland wrote on their website.
Other notable Britons who have signed the bill include actors (Judi Dench, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Izzard, Patrick Stewart, Steve Coogan) and Olympians (Tom Daley, Steve Redgrave) plus David Attenborough, Stephen Hawking and Simon Cowell.