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Strange swamp creature had lips like Mick Jagger

"Some of my colleagues suggested naming the new species after Hollywood star Angelina Jolie," said Ellen Miller.

By Brooks Hays
Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones performs in concert at the Stade de France near Paris on June 13, 2014. UPI/David Silpa
Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones performs in concert at the Stade de France near Paris on June 13, 2014. UPI/David Silpa | License Photo

RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- More than a half-century after Mick Jagger first took the stage with the Rolling Stones, the demonstrative frontman has finally reached the rock 'n' roll pinnacle -- he's had an extinct swamp-dwelling critter named in his honor.

The creature, Jaggermeryx naida, is described by researchers as a cross between a slender hippo and a long-legged pig. Jaggermeryx naida lived some 19 million years ago, and though its likely the strange pig-hippo never had moves like Mick Jagger, the creature did have lips like him.

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"The animal probably had a highly innervated muzzle with mobile and tactile lips, thus the Jagger reference," explained Duke University paleontologist Gregg Gunnell.

Gunnell is the co-author of a paper on the newly named species; the study was published this week in the Journal of Paleontology.

The paper details fossils discovered in the Egyptian desert -- bones scattered among sand dunes and lodged in rock. While the fossils may be dry and brittle now, the desert where they were found used to be soaking wet -- a swampy tropical delta, lush with reeds. Researchers say the big-lipped hippo-pig likely scavenged the swamplands for soggy plants.

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"It may have used its sensitive snout to forage along river banks, scooping up plants with its lower teeth and large lips," explained co-author Ellen Miller of Wake Forest University. "Some of my colleagues suggested naming the new species after Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, because she also has famous lips. But for me it had to be Mick."

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