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Crocodile rock: ‘ugly, scary’ Jurassic beast is named after Motörhead singer Lemmy

‘We think that Lemmy would have liked it,’ says scientist Lorna Steel

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An artist’s impression of the prehistoric crocodile Lemmysuchus, which measured almost six metres long. Graphic: Mark Witton / Trustees of the Natural History Museum / Reuters

A ferocious sea-going crocodile that menaced coastal waters about 164 million years ago during the Jurassic Period has been given a name honouring the similarly ferocious heavy-metal rocker Lemmy, the late front man for the British band Motörhead.

Scientists said on Wednesday they have named the 5.8-metre-long reptile Lemmysuchus, meaning “Lemmy’s crocodile”. Its fossils were unearthed near the eastern English city of Peterborough in 1909 and were recently re-examined and determined to be a distinct genus in need of a name.

Its enlongated, narrow snout resembled those of modern fish-eating crocs from India called gharials. It boasted large, blunt teeth perfect for crushing turtle shells or other hard-bodied prey like hard-scaled fish, said University of Edinburgh paleontologist Michela Johnson, lead author of the study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Late Motörhead lead singer Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister performing in Madraid in 2010. Photo: AFP
Late Motörhead lead singer Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister performing in Madraid in 2010. Photo: AFP

“It’s big, ugly and quite scary. We think that Lemmy would have liked it. For me, this is a career high, and I can now die happy,” added another of the researchers, Lorna Steel, who came up with the name.

Known for hard living and hard rocking, gravelly voiced Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, died of cancer at age 70 in 2015 in Los Angeles. He formed his influential band Motörhead in 1975.

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