Paleontologists Dr. Lea Numberger and Dr. Ben Thuy at the Natural History Museum of Luxembourg has finally rectified The Ocean not having a fossil named after them. The duo have named a new brittle star fossil Ophiacantha oceani after the band to celebrate their paleontology-inspired music.
"Although the actual fossil is only a tiny piece of the animal's skeleton, it was possible to compare it with other known species", said Numberger, lead author of the study. "We were of course super excited when we discovered that the fossil belonged to a previously unknown species."
"Musicians who so skillfully combine arts and science, composing albums like Precambrian (with songs named after the periods of the Precambrian), Pelagial (with songs named after the bathymetric subdivisions of the water column) and Phanerozoic, as well as the song 'Turritopsis dohrnii' referring to the immortal jellyfish from the Mediterranean, are more than deserving of being immortalized in the fossil record," added Thuy.
Information on the new fossil can be found on the museum's webpage. Check out the fossil below alongside a video featuring some new music from The Ocean.
The Ocean will release their new album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic on September 25. Pre-orders are available here.
