Associate anthropology professor Ellen Miller and her team found some fossils in the Egyptian desert. Although fossils of this animal had been found before, Miller and her associates determined that it was a previously undescribed species that they named Jaggermeryx naida, after Rolling Stone Mick Jagger.
The creature belonged to a family of extinct hoofed animals called anthracotheres and was one of six species of this group found at the site. The jaw fragments suggest it was the size of a regular deer and could be described as a cross between a long-legged pig and a slender hippo. “We imagine its lifestyle was like that of a water deer, standing in water and foraging for plants along the river bank,” she said.
It was further distinguished from the other fossils by a series of eight holes on either side of its jaw that Miller said held nerves, giving it a supersensitive lower lip and snout. That would have helped the creature forage for plant foods along riverbanks.
That “supersensitive lower lip” inspired the name. Jagger edged out Angelina Jolie for the honor. What did the animal look like? It was described as “a cross between a long-legged pig and a slender hippo.” Read more about Jaggermeryx naida at Wake Forest News Center. -via Uproxx