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President Barack Obama championed science while he was in the White House, and now the scientific community is honoring that commitment.

See Also: Obama Hosts Final White House Science Fair & “It Was Amazing!”

Scientists named an extinct species that lived more than 500 million years ago in the ocean after the former president because of his “passion for science,” UCR Today reported.

The creature, which was discovered by University of California-Riverside researchers, has been dubbed “Obamaus coronatus.” They published news of the discovery on June 14. It’s described as a disc-shaped animal that was about ½ inch long with spiral grooves on its surface. Obamaus coronatus lived embedded on the ocean floor and probably never moved.

President Obama has been called the first environmental president for his well-known advocacy of combating climate change and preserving the natural beauty of the planet. But his scientific legacy goes much deeper thanks to the Brain Initiative.

In April 2013, Obama announced the launch of the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, which the White House described as “a bold, new initiative focused on revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain.”

The annual White House Science Fair is a rare example of an Obama administration initiative that President Donald Trump continued. Obama launched the fair in 2010 to elevate math and science achievements.

In the final year of his presidency, Obama announced Cancer Moonshot, a national effort to speed up the search for a cure for cancer. He signed a $6.3 billion bill that helped to fund that effort.

On Monday, scientists also honored British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough by naming an ancient species “Attenborites janeae” after him.

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Here’s Why Scientists Named A Newly Discovered Ancient Sea Creature After Obama  was originally published on newsone.com