Newly discovered lizard species named “Dickinson’s wood lizard” in honour of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson
Behold, the Enyalioides dickinsoni.
Image: Kevin Mazur / Getty
Here’s one we didn’t have on our 2024 bingo card – a newly discovered species of lizard found in Peru has been named after Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson.
Apparently, the decision to name the species after the frontman was down to his contributions to the “awareness and protection” of vulnerable species, and the fact that “Iron Maiden is a popular band among taxonomists and museum curators”.
As reported by Classic Rock, the species – named Enyalioides dickinsoni – was found in the Cordillera de Colán mountain range 460 miles north of Lima, Peru. The name is known as “Dickinson’s wood lizard” in English.
The Journal of Vertebrate Biology states that the specific name is “a noun in the genitive form and is a patronym honouring Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958), who is best known as the lead singer of the legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden”.
It adds, “Though he is also a music producer, entrepreneur, competitive fencer, novelist, aviator, broadcaster and the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards. In 2016, he flew a loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, that washed up on a Jersey beach to the Canary Islands in his private plane, thus contributing to the awareness and protection of this vulnerable species. We also highlight that Iron Maiden is a popular band among taxonomists and museum curators who appreciate rock music.”
The species can be identified by seven main traits – which include characteristics such as “a distinctively low vertebral crest, with the crest on neck at most twice as high as the crest between hind limbs” and “56-71 vertebral scales from occiput to base of tail”.
In other Bruce Dickinson news, the rocker is due to release his solo album, The Mandrake Project, on 1 March this year. It will be his first solo release in nearly two decades, and will be the first time he has ever played guitar on a record.