AFP – Iron Maiden’s frontman Bruce Dickinson is now more than just a rock dinosaur, he’s a lizard as well. A newly discovered reptile has been named after the ageing British heavy metal star.
In keeping with the flamboyant style of his namesake, Enyalioides dickinson, has an orange head with a green body, though he is a lot more camera shy than his human counterpart.
Scientists named the lizard, who lives in the Peruvian rainforest, in Dickinson’s honour to thank him for his work for endangered species, according to the Journal of Vertebrate Biology, and because “Iron Maiden is a popular band among taxonomists and museum curators”.
But before he gets too puffed up, the late Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister of Motorhead still has bragging rights, having had one of the most dangerous dinosaurs named after him.
Lemmysuchus – Latin for Lemmy’s crocodile – was “one of the largest coastal predators of its time” and was the nastiest Jurassic croc, experts said.
