Ghostbusters is a comedy classic, and one of the most beloved movies of the 1980s. But as well as being a pop-culture phenomenon, it seems that the film has now made an impact in the scientific community. A newly discovered dinosaur has been named after the movie’s demonic villain, Zuul.
As reported by io9, scientists at Royal Ontario Museum recently discovered the 75-million-year-old fossil of a new type of ankylosaur. A joking comment that the horned dinosaur looked 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 subsequently paid a visit to the museum to see the fossils and recorded a short video. Watch it 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.”