French Metal titans Gojira have become the latest musical artists to have prehistoric fossils named after them, with a trio of ‘brittle star fossils’ named in their honour by paleontologists at Luxembourg’s Natur Musée as well as America’s Florida Museum. The stars resemble starfish, and were discovered in France, Luxembourg, and Austria, on what was once the Jurassic Tethys ocean bed.
The three fossils have been named Ophiogojira labadiei, Ophiogojira abdreui, and Ophioduplantiera noctiluca. The names have been described in more detail by a report published by the scientists at the Royal Society. They said: “Genus named in honour of French metal band Gojira, for producing songs of an unfathomable intensity, beautifully dark and heavy, and exploring the abyss of life and death, of human strength and error, and of thriving and yet threatened oceans.”
The fossils were christened after each member of the band, which include Jean-Michel Labadie and brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier. The band seem thrilled by influencing the new names, stating on their social media that they will be connected to Earth’s history “for eternity”, becoming a “small step closer to immortality.” The band are known for being incredibly environmentally conscious, themeing the majority of their music around earth, nature, and humanity’s impact on the environment, in particular our oceans.
On the track Amazonia, from Gojira’s latest record, Joe Duplaintier screams: “The greatest miracle is burning to the ground”, he stated that he wants “to express something that would empower people and inspire them” in regards to climate action, a sentiment that the band has held since their inception. All proceeds of the track went to a charity that helps indigenous tribes that are affected by deforestation, in just one of many ways that the band are trying to make a positive change.
Gojira join the likes of Between The Buried And Me, Cannibal Corpse, Nightwish, Iron Maiden, Biffy Clyro, The Ocean, Dire Straits, and AC/DC to name just a few, that have all had fossils named after them. The band Gojira rock just as much as the fossils they are now named after, having released their most recent seventh album, Fortitude, earlier on this year.
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