A GIANT LIZARD THAT LIVED 40 MILLION YEARS AGO AT A TIME WHEN EARTH WAS A HOTHOUSE HAS BEEN NAMED IN HONOUR OF ROCK SINGER JIM MORRISON.

Around 1.80m (six feet) from snout to tail and tipping the scales at up to 27 kilos (60 pounds), the plant-eating reptile is one of the biggest-known lizards ever to have lived on land.

Who says scientists don't have a sense of humor? Paleontologists studying the fossilized remains of a giant, plant-eating lizard that roamed the country of Myanmar (Burma) up to 40 million years ago have given the creature the scientific name barbaturex morrisoni after classic rock icon Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, who nicknamed himself "the Lizard King."

CNN — To get through the long, tedious hours sitting in the fossil archives at the University of California-Berkeley, Jason Head would listen to the hypnotic sounds of The Doors.

Jim Morrison was a king of sorts, at least in his own mind. The lead singer of the Doors sang in one cover song that he was “a king bee.” In another, he said, “I’m the crawlin’ king snake.”