Presidential Reach
“Really? A 328-million-year-old octopus fossil? And it’s named for President Biden?”
“Not an octopus,” Kelli answered. “An ancestor of the octopus. Syllipsimopodi bideni had ten arms.”
“Why would someone name an octopus after a president?”
Kelli gave up. Rand wasn’t going to get the whole evolution thing. “New discoveries are named after presidents all the time. Nine new species were named after Barack Obama.”
“Huh.” Rand shook his head.
“I think it’s kind of fitting, actually.” Kelli brought up the Times article she had read that morning. She searched her browser screen and found the part she had noted earlier. “The fossil sat in a drawer at the Royal Ontario Museum for almost twenty-five years before someone took it out and really looked at it. Kind of like Biden. He was overlooked as presidential material for most of his Senate career.”
“I guess.”
“And,” Kelli continued, “that ‘octopus’ could do a lot with those ten arms. Kind of like Biden is doing in the international sphere right now, rallying the West against Putin.”
“Okay,” Rand said. “I kind of get it. Do you think the scientist who named it was thinking of that?”
“Nah. He would have named it long before submitting his research to a journal. Just lucky happenstance.”
This story was inspired by a New York Times article (link below). The title refers to Vampire Squids, but the article talks more about octopi.
Fossil of Vampire Squid’s Oldest Ancestor Is Named for Biden https://nyti.ms/3tCqk7m
I read this around about 3 times. Interesting although I am presupposing that if the discovery was made by a Canadian scientist, we'd name it after a Tim Horton's treat or a type of maple syrup 😉
Really?!🤣 this is so cool!!!