Scientists honour President Obama's smile by naming a lizard species Obamadon Gracilis.


The Obamadon (foreground in blue) was a small insect-eating lizard

A new prehistoric lizard species has been named Obamadon Gracilis after President Obama.

The lizard was first discovered in eastern Montana in 1974 but only recently classified as a new species.

Yale scientists combined the Latin "Obamadon" for "Obama's teeth" and "gracilis" meaning slender to name the toothy lizard.

"The lizard has these very tall, straight teeth and Obama has these tall, straight incisors and a great smile,'' said Nick Longrich, a palaeontologist at the school in New Haven, Connecticut.

Mr Longrich decided to wait until after the US election to name the dinosaur.

"It would look like we were kicking him when he's down if he lost and we named this extinct lizard after him."

Although, Mr Longrich admits, "Romneydon" and "Clintondon" were not suitable for the lizard.

Caloplaca Obamae and Etheostoma obama

Lichen 'Caloplaca Obamae' and fish 'Etheostoma Obama' share Obama's name

Whist Obama can boast to now having three animal species named after him, he is not the only politician with a feral twin.

The extinct sloth species Megalonyxx jeffersonii was named after President Thomas Jefferson.

Other celebrities whose names have made it into the animal kingdom include "Bob Marley" the crustacean and "Beyonce" the horse fly.

The Obamadon was wiped out, with many other dinosaurs, when an asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago.