Nastiest, meanest, biggest beast? That’ll be Motorhead’s Lemmy

HE WAS the hell-raising, grizzled, frontman of Motorhead who took pride in his excessive lifestyle and once invited fans to Love Me Like a Reptile.

So when paleontologists at the National History Museum were choosing a name for a ferocious new Jurassic sea-crocodile, Lemmy seemed an obvious choice.

Lemmysuchus – which translates as Lemmy’s crocodile – was a 19ft predator that benefited from natural, thick armour and was one of the most deadly marine creatures of its day.

Lemmy Kilmister, who died aged 70 in 2015, was the founder, singer and bassist of Motorhead for 40 years, a band that took pride in its reputation for playing and living louder, faster and harder than any other group.

Likewise, his reptilian namesake was bigger, faster and scarier than most sea creatures, terrorising the waters around the UK more than 165million years ago. Its skull measured over three feet and large, blunt teeth were perfect for crushing bones and shells.

A fossil skeleton of one of the creatures was dug up near Peterborough in 1909 and then housed at the museum.

But a recent re-examination led experts to believe that the creature stood apart from the other sea crocodiles and so deserved a new name. Lorna Steele, museum curator, said: “I’ve always been into heavy rock, and Motorhead are one of my favourite bands. Since Lemmy died, I have been keen to name something after him. I thought this is the nastiest, meanest, biggest sea-crocodile there was. So it was perfect.

“Sea crocs are extinct now, but they were once a massive group. You wouldn’t have wanted to come across one. They were massive, with armoured plates on their back and belly.

“We’d like to think Lemmy would have raised a glass to Lemmysuchus, one of the nastiest sea creatures to have ever inhabited the Earth.”