Science: when serious names are not enough in Biology

Searching for scientific names can be a tired work, especially when several names are needed. Biology is an area which requiere names all the time in order to label new species of living beings in each discovery. So scientists decided to convert this work in a fun task!

How about if you discover a new jellyfish and you are also a fan of the The Big Bang Theory sitcom? Why not name it Bazinga, for example? Well, this is what an Australian research group did using the Sheldon Cooper's favorite phrase to name a new species of jellyfish of the size of a grape.

But this is not the only situation. There are many biologists and fans of other characters and celebrities!

The character of Smeagol from The Lord of the Rings films based on the books of the British author J. R. R. Tolkien is transformed in the Gollum by the terrible and malefic ring that he wanted. A small transparent arthropod from the caves of Spain resembles the good part of this hobbit under the name of Gollumjapyx smeagol.

Like other sagas, George Lucas's Star Wars has fans who do not forget the famous people in the first movies such as Han Solo, which is the name of a trilobite of the Paleozoic Era. On the other hand, the isotope Albunione yoda and of the wasps Polemistus chewbacca and Polemistus vaderi are the names in honor of Yoda, Chewbacca and Dart Vader.

By the way, the actor who played Han Solo, Harrison Ford, also has his own species, the ant known as Pheidole harrisonfordi in recognition of the work done by him in favor of the conservation of tropical insect species.

And speaking about more celebrities, a hermit crab that died out about 100 million years ago is named Michaeljacksoni as the memory of Michael Jackson.

On the other hand, an extinct fly discovered from a fossil in a piece of amber from the Baltic region was named Carmenelectra in honor to the American actress and singer born in 1972 (the fly lived about 66 million years before the actress.)

Now, if you believed that scientists are not fashionable, how about the 19 species of ferns that were cataloged under the genus Gaga? inspired, of course, by the American singer Lady Gaga. And if her fans feel somewhat melancholic believing themselves forgotten, there is the Gaga monstraparva fern in honor of the little monsters that is a term for Gaga-fans.

And the list goes on...