Trending that caught Doug’s eye: Celebrity species

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2015 (4063 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

His career is far from over, but Boston Bruins star goaltender Tuukka Rask has already become an immortal.

It’s not because he’s one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League, although his skill did earn him the Vézina Trophy in 2014.

No, Rask’s name will live forever because a scientist decided to name a newly discovered species of wasp after his favourite puck-stopper.

Researcher Robert Copeland, an entomologist and longtime Boston sports fan who works out of Nairobi, was part of a team that found the new wasp in Kenya and (why not?) decided to call it Thaumatodryinus tuukkaraski.

 

The name is perfect for a host of valid scientific reasons. For instance, a journal article to be published in April states Rask’s “glove hand is as tenacious as the raptorial fore tarsus of this dryinid species.”

Need more evidence? Well, the wasp is yellowish and black, just like the Bruins; the research was funded by Finland, Rask’s home country; and the grasping front legs of the female have claspers that look vaguely like goalie pads.

“That’s funny,” is what Rask told the Boston Globe when informed of his namesake, T. tuukkaraski. “That’s pretty neat. We’re the B’s. It’s flattering, I guess.”

The scientific truth is, Rask has just joined a new team — a rapidly growing list of celebrities who have had new species named after them. Here are five more famous people who, thanks to adoring scientists and creepy creatures, will see their names live forever:

 

5) The star: Baywatch heartthrob David Hasselhoff

The species: “The Hoff” crab

What’s in a name: A team of U.K. scientists was over the moon with excitement in 2011 after discovering huge numbers of a new crab species scuttling along the ocean floor 2,500 metres below the surface off the Antarctic coast. It was a type of Yeti crab and was found living around volcanic vents, cracks where mineral-rich, hot waters gush from below the seabed. The big question: What to call this new creature? The answer quickly presented itself when the researchers noticed the crustaceans sported extremely “hairy” (actually setae) chests. The crab reportedly feeds by “farming” bacteria on its hairy chest, then using special comb-like mouthparts to strain off the microbes so it can eat them. What other creature is internationally famous for baring its hairy chest and running along the beach in slow motion in tight red swim trunks? Why, Baywatch legend David Hasselhoff, of course. “Their nickname on the cruise ship was the ‘Hasselhoff crab,’ which gives you some idea of what they look like,” Prof. Alex Rogers, the Oxford University researcher who led the cruise, told the BBC. “The crab occurs in staggering densities. It is just incredible to see these animals literally lying in heaps around the diffuse flow of these vents.” Hasselhoff was so moved by the discovery he created the hashtag “#GotHoffCrabs” on his Twitter account. We thought he’d be jealous, because apparently the crabs are capable of displaying a wider range of human emotions than their namesake.

 

4) The star: Sir Mick Jagger

The species: Jaggermeryx naida

What’s in a name: We’re guessing the Rolling Stones front-man is used to being called a dinosaur or an aging rock star. But the comparison became scientifically accurate last year when researchers discovered the fossilized (rock) remains of a prehistoric swamp-dwelling creature that resembled a cross between a skinny hippo and a leggy pig. It also sported a luscious pair of supersized flappy lips that it used to snuffle all over the riverbank. Sound like anyone you know? Researchers found jawbone fragments of this big-lipped, hippo-like creature amid the sand dunes and eroded rock of a remote site in the Egyptian desert, an area that would have been a lush tropical delta criss-crossed by rivers when this unusual creature strutted its stuff 19 million years ago. “We gave it the scientific name Jaggermeryx naida, which translates to ‘Jagger’s water nymph,’ ” Wake Forest University paleoanthropologist Ellen Miller chirped to reporters at the time. “Some of my colleagues suggested naming the species after Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, because she also has famous lips. But for me it had to be Mick.” Jaggermeryx is believed to have eaten a diet of plants, which likely gave it gas, gas, gas!

 

3) The star: U.S. President Barack Obama

The species: Etheostoma Obama and Caloplaca obamae

What’s in a name: If you are president of the (bad word) United States, you’d figure they would only slap your name on awesome stuff, such as a new species of American eagle. You would be wrong. Obama has had his name bestowed upon everything from an extinct lizard from Montana (Obamadon gracilis) to a species of trapdoor spider (Aptostichus barackobamai) to the chicken-and-waffle plate (“the Obama Special”) at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in Southern California. Most recently, researchers from St. Louis University named a new species of freshwater fish after their commander in chief in 2012 to pay tribute to his environmental leadership. Etheostoma Obama is one of five newly discovered species of darter, the smallest member of the perch family, and is a skinny orange-and-blue speckled fish with a brilliant fan-shaped fin with bold orange stripes. Four other new darters were named for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Teddy Roosevelt and Al Gore. Back in 2009, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, named a new orange-coloured lichen, a plant-like growth that looks like moss or a dry leaf, after Obama. “I discovered the new species… while doing a survey for lichen diversity on Santa Rosa Island in California,” gushed UCR lichen curator Kerry Knudsen in a statement. “I named it Caloplaca obamae to show my appreciation for the president’s support of science.” And no one should forget the legendary presidential seal.

 

2) The star: Lady Gaga

The species: 19 species of fern (a new genus)

What’s in a name: Forget Grammys and singing on the Academy Awards. Pop-music megastar Lady Gaga was honoured in 2012 with the name of a new genus of ferns — 19 species in total — found in Central and South America, Mexico, Arizona and Texas. Not being trained scientists, you are asking: What’s up with that? Well, according to Duke Today, the new genus Gaga, at one stage in its life, has somewhat fluid definitions of gender and members of the new genus bear a distinct DNA sequence spelling GAGA. “We wanted to name this genus for Lady Gaga because of her fervent defence of equality and individual expression,” Kathleen Pryer, a Duke University biology professor, told reporters. “And as we started to consider it, the ferns themselves gave us more reasons why it was a good choice.” For instance, at the 2010 Grammy Awards, Gaga’s heart-shaped costume — at least to Pryer — resembled the “bisexual reproductive stage of the ferns.” The cool fern names include “Gaga germanotta” (the singer’s real name is Stefani Germanotta) and “Gaga mostraparva,” which translates to “Gaga little monster,” a nod to her fans, dubbed “Little Monsters.” Gushed Pryer: “We think that her second album, Born This Way, is enormously empowering, especially for disenfranchised people… and scientists who study odd ferns.” In other words, they were germinated this way.

 

1) The star: Neil Young

The species: Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi

What’s in a name: The legendary rocker earns the top spot on our scientific list because not only is he a Winnipegger (and, no, we will not use the past tense) but, as far as we are aware, he is the only Winnipegger rockin’ in the bug world after having an insect named after him. In 2008, East Carolina University biologist Jason Bond dubbed a new species of trapdoor spider Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi in honour of this one-time Kelvin High School student. “There are rather strict rules about how you name new species,” Bond said. “As long as these rules are followed, you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice.” As a spider, Young is even scarier. Trapdoor spiders live in burrows and use silk to seal off their homes, hiding behind the hinged lids as they wait to snag dinner. When it senses vibrations, the sneaky spider pops open the silk flap and drags its prey into the burrow. If you care, experts typically tell one spider from another by differences in their, um, naughty bits. We also assume spiders named after rock stars insist on having only blue M&Ms in their burrows.

 

The Origin of Species (Names): Every year, up to 25,000 new species are discovered by scientists. And they all need names, so naming a new bug after a celebrity is a great way to draw attention to your discovery. Which is why we suspect it’s only a matter of time before someone names some creepy crawler after us. Our wife has been calling us a pest for years. Hey, why are you rolling up your newspaper? Put that down! EEEEEEEK!!!

 

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca