Fossil shark named after 80s video game

BBC ^ | 01/21/2019 | Staff

[Red Badger]

A newly discovered species of ancient shark has been named after a 1980s arcade game.

The shark swam in the rivers of what is now South Dakota, US, about 67 million years ago, living alongside iconic dinosaur species such as T. rex.

It's been named Galagadon, after the 1981 Japanese-US game Galaga, because its teeth resemble the spaceships in the game.

The specimen is described in the Journal of Paleontology.

"It may seem odd today, but about 67 million years ago, what is now South Dakota was covered in forests, swamps and winding rivers," said co-author Terry Gates, from North Carolina State University.

The tiny teeth - each measuring less than a millimetre across - were discovered in the sediment left behind when palaeontologists at the Field Museum in Chicago uncovered the bones of "Sue," currently the most complete T. rex specimen ever described.

However, said Dr Gates, "Galagadon was not swooping in to prey on T. rex, Triceratops, or any other dinosaurs that happened into its streams. This shark had teeth that were good for catching small fish or crushing snails and crawdads (crayfish)."

[Red Badger]

Tooth of Galagadon nordquisti. (Credit: Terry Gates) ============================================================= The Galaga spaceship

[blueunicorn6]

Sharks in South Dakota?

Guess I’ll be canceling that trip to Mount Rushmore.

[Red Badger]

The Sharknado is everywhere...................

[mkleesma]

If that’s the case they should name it after me - I pumped about a billion quarters into that machine over the years.

[bgill]

Would that mean global warming or cooling?

[exDemMom]

"It may seem odd today, but about 67 million years ago, what is now South Dakota was covered in forests, swamps and winding rivers," said co-author Terry Gates, from North Carolina State University.

And the anthropogenic global warming happened! Oh noes!

Oh, wait...

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[null and void]

Sharknado ping!

[a fool in paradise]

They named a shark after an ‘80s watch company???

[a fool in paradise]

Oh, it isn’t “Fossil Shark”.

[a fool in paradise]

>>Would that mean global warming or cooling?

Cat 8 hurricanes

[Yo-Yo]

[Red Badger]

I played that for hours....................

[BradyLS]

It is a close match. Good eye! I was thinking it was one of the alien ships.

[reed13k]

Loved that game...nothing better than when you got in on the start of a run and wiped out the whole swarm as they did the curl up.

[Red Badger]

Even had the Atari version.

Also have a ‘Retro’ Arcade game that has all the old Arcade games, Asteroids, Pac-Man, Galaxian, etc., that you connect to your TV................

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks fieldmarshaldj.

[Paladin2]

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/alleged-collusion-among-card-sharks-to-be-probed/article_9df51c3b-9186-5650-9f6a-6e74be79c4f9.html

[blueunicorn6]

Sharks playing cards in South Dakota?

Do they play Go Fish for money?