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Sir Mick Jagger may be one of the most famous musicians on the planet.

But now there's a new rock star that has been named in honour of him – a fossil of an extinct swamp-dwelling creature that lived 19 million years ago in Africa.

The hippo-like creature has been given its name because, like the Rolling Stones' front man, it too has super-sized lips.

A new rock star: An extinct swap-dwelling creature that lived 19 million years ago in Africa has been named after Sir Mick Jagger (pictured right) because they both have extra large lips. Top and side views of a fossilised jaw bone indicate that Jaggermeryx naida had big, sensitive lips and snout. The hippo-like animal's jaw bones suggest it was roughly the size of a small deer

'We gave it the scientific name Jaggermeryx naida, which translates to 'Jagger's water nymph,'" said Ellen Miller of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Researchers uncovered the fossils, consisting of multiple jawbone fragments, amid the sand dunes and eroded rock of a remote site in the Egyptian desert.

The creature belonged to a family of extinct hoofed animals called anthracotheres.

Jaggermeryx is one of six species of anthracotheres found at the site, but what distinguished it from other members of this family was a series of tiny holes on either side of its jaw that held the nerves providing sensation to the chin and lower lip. 

The creature has been given the name Jaggermeryx naida, which translates to 'Jagger's water nymph' in honour of the Rolling Stones front man (pictured here at the band's most iconic performance at Hyde Park in 1969. The hippo-like extinct animal belonged to a family of extinct hoofed animals called anthracotheres

'The animal probably had a highly innervated muzzle with mobile and tactile lips, thus the Jagger reference,' said Duke University palaeontologist Gregg Gunnell.

The Egyptian site where the fossils were found is mostly desert today, but geological data suggest that millions of years ago it was a lush tropical delta crisscrossed by rivers and swampland, according to the study published in the Journal of Palaeontology.

By examining the amount of different isotopes in the animal's bones, experts think it ate plants.

'It may have used its sensitive snout to forage along river banks, scooping up plants with its lower teeth and large lips,' Dr Miller said.

The Jaggermeryx fossils, which now reside in collections at Duke, the Cairo Geological Museum and Cairo University, were found alongside fossilised catfish, turtles, water birds and crocodile faeces.

'Some of my colleagues suggested naming the new species after Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, because she also has famous lips. But for me it had to be Mick,' said Dr Miller.

Dr Gunnel added: 'I was a huge Rolling Stones fan in my day. Exile on Main Street and Let it Bleed were my favorite albums.'