Newly Discovered Prehistoric Crab Species Named in Honor of Nick Saban

A recently discovered and classified prehistoric crab species has been named in honor of Nick Saban by a team of researchers led by a University of Alabama paleontologist.

Dr. Adiel Klompmaker serves as Curator of Paleontology in UA Museums’ Department of Museum Research and Collections, and headed up a recent study of crab and shrimp species from 65 million years ago.

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The project also involved George Martin, a Research Associate at UA Museums, who discovered most of the fossils used in the study at a site in Lowndes County, located approximately 100 miles southeast of Tuscaloosa.

“I’ve been collecting this site for about 15 years and it is very special to me, primarily because it never stops giving. It is a small site, but has produced several species of decapods and a shark new to science, which is amazing to me,” Martin said in a press release.

Other colleagues from Alabama, Slovakia, Mississippi, and Florida aided the two UA employees.

The fossils are believed to be approximately 65 million years old, dating back to a time when the landscape of modern-day Alabama looked dramatically different, with the southern half of the state submerged under ocean water.

The study of the Alabama fossils identified eight total species. There were five distinct crabs and three burrowing shrimp, including two crab species that had never been named before.

The UA-led team decided to use the opportunity to honor legendary football coach Nick Saban and named one of the prehistoric crabs Costacopluma nicksabani.

“The species name not only honors Nick Saban because he famously won six national and nine SEC championships with the Crimson Tide from 2007–2023, but his dedication to Nick’s Kids Foundation continues to have a tremendously positive impact for children in Alabama and beyond," Klompmaker said in a release.

The Saban crab is part of a genus, Costacopluma, which lived on or in the sea floor and existed for about 40 million years, surviving even the meteorite believed to have wiped out all non-flying dinosaurs.

Some members of the same decapod crustacean family still exist today in the crab family Retroplumidae.

For more coverage of news in west Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.