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【22nd May】Ten species named after famous people

发表于 2013-05-22 6205 次查看

Every year, somewhere between 15,000 and 25,000 new species of animal are discovered, so how do scientists come up with original names for them? Not surprisingly, some seek inspiration in the world of popular culture, as witnessed recently when a scientist discovered a fossil of an extinct creature with scissor-like claws, and named it Kooteninchela deppi in honour of – you guessed it – Edward Scissorhands star Johnny Depp.

It’s not simply a matter of randomly attaching any name to a new species you think you may have discovered in the field or a museum. Your findings have to be accepted for publication in a scientific journal for you to give it a name – but once that’s done it lasts forever.

Naming species after celebrities is a very good way to draw attention to your finding. Some are a tribute, like the small crustacean parasite named after reggae legend Bob Marley. Some are clever, as in the miteFunkotriplogynium iagobadius named in honour of James Brown (iago meaning James, and badius meaning Brown). Some are a blatant ploy to meet heroes, as in the scientist who named a species of jellyfish after Frank Zappa (which worked).

Here, we list some of the weird and wonderful species named after famous... and infamous people.

Pirate of the Cambrian

Discovered a huge, scissor-clawed prehistoric arthropod? There’s only one thing for it – name it after Edward Scissorhands actor Johnny Depp.

Cleese in the trees

Noted lemur fancier John Cleese has been honoured with a species named after him, discovered by Swiss scientist Dr Urs Thalmann in 2005.

Mothers of spinvention

Scientists, it would appear, are big fans of psychedelic jazz-rock noodler Frank Zappa; animals named after him include this droopy-jawed spider. 

Spider woman

Angelina Jolie has won many honours in her film career, and can also add this species of trapdoor spider - Aptostichus angelinajolieae - to the list.

Infamous insect

When German scientist Oscar Scheibel found a new species of blind Yugolavian cave beetle in 1936 he chose to name it after dictator Adolf Hitler.

Microsoft bug

Computing pioneer Bill Gates has had a species of Costa Rican flower fly named after him – as has Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Rock fossils

No jokes about rock dinosaurs – species of extinct trilobite have been named after Sex Pistol John Lydon (top left) and members of The Ramones (bottom left).

Giant of literature

Herman Melville penned the classic white whale novel Moby Dick; a species of extinct whale, Livyatan melvillei, was named after him in 2010.

本文来自BBC,图片只贴出部分。

6回复
  • 2楼 荆棘 2013-05-22

    10个以名人命名的物种

    科学家每年都能发现15,000到25,000种新物种,他们如何给它们命名?有的科学家从流行文化中寻找灵感,比如近期有个科学家发现了一种已灭绝生物的化石,它有一对像剪刀一样的钳子,于是就把它叫做Kooteninchela deppi。嗯,你猜对了,这个名字是来自剪刀手爱德华的扮演者约翰尼.德普(Johnny Depp)。

    给生物命名不是件随意的事——不是说你在田里或者博物馆里看到个没见过的生物,就可以给它随便安个名字。你的发现必须被正规的科学刊物所认可,你才可以给它个起个名,然后这个名字以后就不能更改。

    用名人的名字给你发现的物种命名,这是个吸引注意力的好方法。有的是为了表达一种敬意,比如有一种甲壳动物上的小寄生虫,以传奇雷鬼音乐人Bob Marley命名。有的比较讨巧,比如一种叫Funkotriplogynium iagobadius的小虫,其实是为了纪念James Brown(灵魂音乐教父,iago是James的意思,而badius的意思是Brown)。而有的其实就是为了认识名人的伎俩,比如一个科学家他发现的一种水母以Frank Zappa(美国作曲家,歌手)的名字命名,然后成功勾搭上了(背景资料:发现这个新水母的是一个意大利科学家,以Frank Zappa的名义命名后,他成功地拜访了Frank)!

    下面,我们列出了几种奇怪或神奇的生物,他们都是以名人...或者不那么有名的人的名字命名。


    加勒比海盗
    发现了一种有一对剪刀手的虫子?当然只能以剪刀手爱德华扮演者约翰尼德普来命名了!

    树上的Cleese
    2005年瑞典科学家Urs Thalmann发现了一种新的狐猴,于是以著名狐猴爱好者John Cleese的名字给它命名。

    spinvention之母
    Frank Zappa的科学家粉丝似乎很多,以他名字命名的生物还包括这个下巴下垂的蜘蛛。

    蜘蛛女
    安吉丽娜.朱莉(Angelina Jolie)在她的电影生涯中获得无数荣誉,她的另一项荣誉是这个蜘蛛:Aptostichus angelinajolieae

    不出名的小虫
    1936年,德国科学家奥斯卡.苏泊尔在南斯拉夫发现了这种洞穴盲虫的后,他用独裁者阿道夫.希特勒的名字给它命名。

    微软之虫
    以电脑先驱比尔盖茨及微软联合创始人鲍尔艾伦Paul Allen都有以他们名字命名的物种:哥斯达黎加的两种苍蝇。

     

    摇滚化石
    还有三叶虫以Sex Pistol的John Lydon(左上)和The Ramones乐队成员名字(左下)命名。

    文学巨兽
    赫尔曼·梅尔维尔写了著名小说《Moby Dick/白鲸记》,于是2010年,一种已灭绝的白鲸被称为梅尔维尔白鲸。

  • 3楼 荆棘 2013-05-23

    @温古知心  

    Pirate of the Cambrian发现了——这个前面是小标题,不是他发现~

    Herman Melville 以一种即将灭绝的白鲸为原型写作了小说——原文里的意思不是说他以这种白鲸为原型,exitinct是已灭绝的意思,不是即将灭绝

     
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