“What fortunate timing that our next LTS should be X, because ‘xenial’ means ‘friendly relations between hosts and guests’, and given all the amazing work going into LXD and KVM for Ubuntu OpenStack, and beyond that the interoperability of Ubuntu OpenStack with hypervisors of all sorts, it seems like a perfect fit. And Xerus, the African ground squirrels, are among the most social animals in my home country. They thrive in the desert; they live in small, agile, social groups that get along unusually well with their neighbours (for most mammals, neighbours are a source of bloody competition, for Xerus, hey, collaboration is cool),” wrote Mark on his blog.

Source: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to Be Called Xenial Xerus – Softpedia