Sometimes it feels like the names of new species can come from just about anything—from regions to a supportive grandmother to a creature’s short butt. Certain people, however, have received more attention from the taxonomic community, inspiring the names of more than one previously undiscovered creature—much to one man’s joking chagrin.
1. Stephen Colbert
Famous comedian and television host Stephen Colbert has a number of creepy crawlies named after him, including the wasp Aleiodes Colberti, the trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti, and the diving beetle the Agaporomorphus colberti.
“Last year, Stephen shamelessly asked the science community to name something cooler than a spider to honor him,” Arizona State University entomologist Quentin Wheeler, who was involved in the naming of the diving beetle, explained in a statement back in 2009. “His top choices were a giant ant or a laser lion. While those would be cool species to discover, our research involves beetles, and they are ‘way cooler’ than a spider any day.”
2. Queen Victoria
The famous British monarch doesn’t just have animal species named after her. She has a whole genus of giant waterlilies. Of course, the queen is also referenced in specific animal names, such as the large pigeon Goura victoria (Victoria crowned pigeon), and the Ornithoptera victoriae (Queen Victoria’s birdwing).
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
While some argue that there could have been room for Jack next to Rose at the end of the Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio would have certainly drowned them all if he had climbed aboard with all the species named after him. The American actor inspired the names of the Cameroonian tree Uvariopsis dicaprio, the water beetle Grouvellinus leonardodicaprioi, and the frog Phyllonastes dicaprioi.
4. Harrison Ford
Indiana Jones is terrified of snakes, so he probably wouldn’t be too happy to discover that in 2023 the slithering species Tachymenoides harrisonfordi was named in honor of actor Harrison Ford and his environmental advocacy, among other things.
“These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it’s always the ones that terrify children. I don’t understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won’t fear the night,” Ford said in a statement. “In all seriousness, this discovery [of Tachymenoides harrisonfordi] is humbling. It’s a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere.
The aforementioned critters include the spider Calponia harrisonfordi and the ant Pheidole harrisonfordi.
5. Barack Obama
The former president has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to things named after him, including an impressive number of organisms. There is the bee Lasioglossum obamai, the spider Spintharus barackobamai (which is in the same genus as Spintharus berniesandersi), and the waterbeetle Desmopachria barackobamai, among others. Like Queen Victoria, even Obama has a genus named after him, as seen in the (extinct) lizard Obamadon gracilis.
6. David Attenborough
Last but certainly not least, there are a whooping over 50 species that carry the name of broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough (though we would argue there should be a few species named specifically after his voice, too). These include the bird Polioptila attenboroughi, the carnivorous plant Nepenthes attenboroughii, and the Bolivian lichen Malmidea attenboroughii.
In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.
