Jaggermeryx naida – “Jagger’s Water Nymph”
It resembled something akin to a skinny hippopotamus crossed with a long-legged pig and spent most of the time in the warm, freshwaters of tropical North Africa, but the biggest claim to fame for a newly described member of the Anthracotheres (extinct family of hoofed mammals), is that it has been named after the lead singer of the Rolling Stones.
Sir Mick Jagger is famous for his big mouth and lips and it seems these are traits he shared with Jaggermeryx naida, which roamed the ancient waterways of Egypt some 19 million years ago (Burdigalian faunal stage of the Miocene epoch). The name means “Jagger’s water nymph” and we will avoid any references to the Rolling Stone’s front man and his age.
Jaggermeryx naida
Views of the Jaw Fragment of J. naida
Various views of the fossil material.
Picture credit: Greg Gunnell (Duke Lemur Centre)
The picture above shows views of the jawbone fragment that led to the identification of this new species of hoofed mammal. Picture 1 is a view of inside of the jaw (medial), picture 2 shows the same fossil but in lateral view (outside of the jaw) and picture 3 shows the same fossil viewed from the top (dorsal) view.
Ancient Hoofed Mammal
An international team of scientists have been carefully excavating an area of the Qattara Depression (north-western Egypt). Although the Qattara depression forms part of the Libyan desert today and it is famous for its dunes, salt lakes and arid terrain (it was the setting of the 1958 film “Ice Cold in Alex”), back in the Miocene epoch, much of North Africa was covered in lush swamplands and a number of Anthracotheres thrived.
The paper reporting on the excavation of the Anthracothere specimens has been published this week in the academic “Journal of Paleontology”, (note the American form of spelling).
The site, known as Wadi Moghra has provided the highest diversity of Anthracothere fossils when compared to other locations of Miocene aged deposits. A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented that at least six different types of these hoofed mammals are now known to have been living in this part of the world nineteen million years ago.
Associate Professor Ellen Miller, of Wake Forest University (North Carolina), one of the co-authors of the scientific paper stated:
“We imagine its lifestyle was like that of a water deer, standing in water and foraging for plants along the river bank.”
Ellen Miller (Wake Forest University) at Work Examining Fossil Material at the Site
Often palaeontology can involve lying down on the job.
Picture credit: Wake Forest University
The “Jagger” Connection
The site has revealed a number of vertebrate fossils, not just artiodactyls (even-toed mammals), but the fossilised remains of catfish, turtles and a number of water birds have also been found. The fossil jaw fragments showed a series of eight holes. These have been interpreted as having been the sites of large nerves that fed information back to the brain from the lower lip and snout. Jaggermeryx naida probably had large lips (just like the Rolling Stones singer) and a super-sensitive lower lip and snout. These adaptations would have enabled this herbivore to forage for nutritious plants in the muddy waters of this ancient Egyptian landscape.
A sensitive lower lip and snout.
Picture credit: Wake Forest University
Fossils Found in 1918
Associate Professor Miller added that the first fossils of this animal that they have described were found back in 1918, but at the time it was not recognised that these fossils represented a new type of Anthracothere.
She commented that when the team asked fellow researchers had they seen similar looking bones elsewhere:
“When people kept telling us no, we knew we were really on to something. They’ve [Jaggermeryx naida] have been around for nearly a century, we just didn’t know what they were.”
Mick Jagger is not the first celebrity to have a prehistoric animal named after him. Many famous people have been honoured in this way. For example, last summer (June 2013), Everything Dinosaur reported on the fact that an Eocene lizard had been named after Jim Morrison (lead singer of the Doors). Earlier in 2013, we reported on a new type of Cambrian arthropod being named after the actor Johnny Depp.
To read about the Eocene lizard named after Jim Morrison: Rock Star Honoured.
To read about the Cambrian invertebrate named in honour of Johnny Depp: Film Star Honoured by Having Arthropod Fossil Named After Him.
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