Ghostbusters is a comedic masterpiece, and easily one of the most beloved movies of all time. Now, as well as being a pop-culture phenomenon, it seems that the film has made a permanent impact in the scientific community. We are happy to report that a newly discovered dinosaur has been named after the movie’s demonic villain, Zuul.
As reported by io9, scientists at the Royal Ontario Museum recently discovered the 75-million-year-old fossil of a new ankylosaur. What started as a joking comment about the horned dinosaur looking a bit like the scary Ghostbusters demon has led the discovery to be officially named the “Zuul crurivastator.”
Ghostbusters co-writer, star, and fellow Ontarian Dan Aykroyd paid a visit to the museum to see the fossils and recorded a short video, as seen below:
According to a museum statement, “like Zuul, the new species has a short, rounded snout and prominent horns behind the eyes. The shape of the horns and the ornaments on the skull are what identified Zuul as a species new to science.”
“Its species name, crurivastator, means ‘destroyer of shins’, and references the incredible weapon-like tail club found with the skeleton.”
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