Tetragramma donaldtrumpi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Echinodermata
Class:
Echinoidea
Order:
Phymosomatoida
Family:
Diplopodiidae
Genus:
Tetragramma
Species:
T. donaldtrumpi
Binomial name
Tetragramma donaldtrumpi
Thompson, 2016

Tetragramma donaldtrumpi is a species of fossil sea urchins discovered and identified by William R. Thompson Jr. in 2016.[1] The specimen locality is from the Lower Cretaceous, Trinity Group, of the Glen Rose Formation near Fischer, Texas, in the United States.[1][2]

Based from the fossils discovered of Tetragramma donaldtrumpi, the species is known to have been about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in size and round in shape, with the appearance of a Life Savers candy.[3] The genus Tetragramma is known from the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) to the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian).[4]

Thompson named the species to honor then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.[5] A paleontology lab at the University of Texas at Austin holds a fossil of the species, along with 45 other species.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Thompson Jr., William R. (November 2016). Fossil Echinoids of Texas: A Monograph of Fossil Sea Urchins. River Stix. ISBN 978-1617042782.
  2. ↑ "Tetragramma donaldtrumpi Thompson, 2016". ZooBank. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 Wheeler, Christine DeLong (7 November 2016). "New species of fossil sea urchin named after Donald Trump". WMUR. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "Tetragramma Agassiz, 1838". The Echinoid Directory. Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  5. ↑ Mendoza, Madalyn (7 November 2016). "With fossil, Donald Trump becomes 'permanent part of the scientific record'". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 17 February 2017.


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