Peculiar Extinct Fish With Spines Named for National Geographic
Natgeosocus sorini swam in subtropical seas about 36 million years ago, a new study says.
There may be plenty of fish names in the sea, but Alexander Bannikov decided to honor National Geographic with the one that he just added to the community of ancient marine creatures.
The paleontologist and his team unearthed the fossilized skeleton of a new genus—and species—of extinct bony fish in southwestern Russia in 2013. Since their expedition was funded by National Geographic's Committee for Research and Exploration, the discovery was dubbed Natgeosocus sorini. (Also see "Fish Fossil Has Oldest Known Face, May Influence Evolution.")
Here's how the name breaks down: Natgeosocus is the name of the new genus. Sorini is the new species, a nod to Romanian paleoichthyologist Dorin-Sorin Baciu, who extricated the skeleton from the clay
