Around 67 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, a species of freshwater shark now known as Galagadon nordquistae swam in the rivers of what is now South Dakota. Its existence was recently discovered by scientists who were examining the two-ton sediment pile left over from the famous Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex find that took place back in 1990.

By examining the sediment, scientists discovered around 24 teeth said to belong to the shark. The teeth are shaped similarly to the spaceships in Galaga, and so the decision was made to name the newly discovered species after the classic arcade game.

galagadon teeth galaga spaceship comparison

Even though it existed around the same time as Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex, the Galagadon was much smaller in size. Scientists have estimated that the ancient shark was only about 12 to 18 inches, and mainly preyed on small fish, snails, and crayfish. For a better idea of what this kind of shark looked like, it's said to be related to the carpet sharks of today. Artist Velizar Simeonovski has created a depiction of what the Galagadon may have looked like when it was alive.

galagadon

While some may shrug off the significance of an entire species being named after a video game, others will note that this is an example of just how far the gaming industry as come. The gaming industry is perhaps the biggest entertainment industry in the world in terms of revenue, and more importantly, video games are becoming more recognized as a legitimate art form.

Scientists choosing to name a species after a video game like Galaga serves to legitimize the video game industry even further. It also shows how ingrained video games have become in our culture, as the scientists recognized that the shark's teeth resembled the ships from an 1980s arcade game.

Of course, it's worth pointing out that even though Galaga originally released in 1981, it has remained somewhat popular to this day. New versions of Galaga have released on modern platforms, and the classic arcade version is available on a number of platforms as well. It may not be quite as recognizable as similar games like Space Invaders, but Galaga now has the bragging rights of having an ancient shark species named after it.

Galaga is out now for a dizzying number of video game platforms.

Source: Journal of Paleontology (via Gizmodo)

Image Source: Velizar Simeonovski, Field Museum Chicago