Researchers at the Royal Ontario Museum have discovered a new species of dinosaur and decided to name it after one of Ghostbusters‘ most terrifying beasts.
They named the ankylosaurine dinosaur Zuul crurivastator, which translates to “the destroyer of shins.” It was given this name due to it’s striking similarity to the “terror dog” demon in the original Ghostbusters film named Zuul.
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Additionally, it has a sledgehammer-like tail that was used to fight predators and competing mates.
The name was chosen by researchers Victoria Arbour and David C. Evans, who noticed the visual similarities to Zuul and couldn’t shake the idea.
“Me and my co-author David Evans were batting around ideas for what to name it, and I just half-jokingly said, ‘It looks like Zuul from Ghostbusters,’” Arbour told CBC News. “Once we put that out there we couldn’t not name it that.”
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The 75-million-year-old beast has already attracted admirers from the Ghostbusters‘ fan base. Most notably, Dan Aykroyd, who played Ray Stantz and co-write the original film, went to look at the dinosaur in person to see the resemblance.
“We’re so honored that the Royal Ontario Museum would accord the name of this magnificent creature with the appellation we called our terror dog in the movie,” Aykroyd said.
Watch Aykroyd introduce the specimen below.
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Zuul was discovered in Hill County, Montana and is a close relative of the Ankylosaurus. It was 20 feet long and weigh approximately 2.5 tons. It has a short snout and long horns behind its eyes, much like the demon.
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The museum, which is located in Toronto, has been playing up the dino’s namesake on social media. They’ve captioned several posts with “There is no dino, only Zuul,” which is a callback to a possessed Sigorney Weaver’s famous line “There is no Dana, only Zuul.”
Most of the specimen is ready for display, but other parts are still being separated from rock.
As for other Ghostbusters news, there may be a sequel to the 2016 reboot film, but there’s no official word yet. There is also an animated Ghostbusters movie in the works.
