Obamus
{{Speciesbox
|fossil_range = Ediacaran ~{{fossil range|555}}
|image = Obamus NT.jpg
|image_caption = Artist's reconstruction
|genus = Obamus
|parent_authority = Dzaugis et al., 2020
|species = coronatus
|authority = Dzaugis et al., 2020
}}
Obamus coronatus is a torus-shaped Ediacaran fossil from the Rawnsley Quartzite of South Australia named in honor of former American President Barack Obama by the lab of Mary L. Droser.{{cite journal |last1=Dzaugis |first1=P. W. |last2=Evans |first2=S. D. |last3=Droser |first3=M. L. |last4=Gehling |first4=J. G. |last5=Hughes |first5=I. V. |title=Stuck in the mat: Obamus coronatus, a new benthic organism from the Ediacara Member, Rawnsley Quartzite, South Australia |journal=Australian Journal of Earth Sciences |date=2020 |volume=67 |issue=6 |pages=897–903 |doi=10.1080/08120099.2018.1479306|bibcode=2020AuJES..67..897D |doi-access=free }}
Morphology
The fossils show a multi-ridged body embedded in the biofilm of the original environment, with one end of the body tucked into or beneath the other end to form a ring, so that the living organism would have resembled a French cruller doughnut.{{Cite journal |last1=Boan |first1=Phillip C. |last2=Evans |first2=Scott D. |last3=Hall |first3=Christine M. S. |last4=Droser |first4=Mary L. |date=2023-03-13 |title=Spatial distributions of Tribrachidium, Rugoconites, and Obamus from the Ediacara Member (Rawnsley Quartzite), South Australia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/spatial-distributions-of-tribrachidium-rugoconites-and-obamus-from-the-ediacara-member-rawnsley-quartzite-south-australia/066B9AD6529D8E2958DB13FBC9551D5C |journal=Paleobiology |volume=49 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=601–620 |doi=10.1017/pab.2023.9 |bibcode=2023Pbio...49..601B |s2cid=257521294 |issn=0094-8373}}
Etymology
The generic epithet honors President Obama, partly in reference to his love and patronage of the sciences, and partly because the fossil organisms resemble his ear.{{cite web | url=https://www.livescience.com/62877-ancient-creature-named-after-obama.html | title=Obama's Ears Inspired the Name of this 550-Million-Year-Old Critter | website=Live Science | date=21 June 2018 }} The specific epithet, coronatus, meaning "equipped with a wreath" (or "crowned"), refers to the torus or ring-shape of the fossils.