Giant Jurassic-era crocodile named after heavy metal icon Lemmy Kilmister

A team of music-mad scientists unveiled an extinct, sea-dwelling crocodile from the Jurassic period Wednesday, which they named in honor of Motorhead lead singer Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister who died in 2015."Lemmysuchus" -- Latin for Lemmy's crocodile -- was about 5.8 meters (19 feet) long and had a skull of more than a meter -- similar to a modern-day saltwater crocodile to which it is only distantly related.

London's Natural History Museum said the fossil of what's now known as Lemmysuchus obtusidens was dug up in England in the early 20th century but was incorrectly categorized with other sea crocodiles found in the area.

Researchers recently took another look at the specimen and gave it a new classification and a scientific name of its own.

The fossil is housed at the museum. Curator Lorna Steel suggested it be named after Kilmister, who died in 2015. She says in a statement that "we'd like to think that he would have raised a glass to Lemmysuchus."

Lemmy, a chain-smoker who boasted of drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel's a day and of sleeping with more than 1,000 women, died in December 2015 at the age of 70 in Los Angeles.He formed Motorhead, a metal band, in 1975.