Ridiculous Scientific Names #4 - Animals Named After Donald Trump

So, the first thing I did after finishing yesterday's post on the spider named after Bernie Sanders was check if there are any organisms named after President Donald J. Trump. What I came up with was two newly discovered animal species named after the President; Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, a species of moth with distinctive yellowish-white scales covering the head and Tetragramma donaldtrumpi, a species of fossil sea urchin.

Now, let's learn a bit more about them and why they were named that way:

Neopalpa donaldtrumpi

Close up of the head of the Neopalpa donaldtrumpi (Credit: Dr. Vazrick Nazari)

Neopalpa donaldtrumpi is a moth species occurring in Southern California and Northern Mexico that was officially described just a few days before Donald Trump assumed his role as the 45th President of the United States of America.

The creature was described by evolutionary biologist and systematist Dr. Vazrick Nazari who named it this way because the moth's head cover reminded him of Trump's hair. To be fair, I think he's got a good point XD 

However, Nazari also hopes that "that the fame around the new moth will successfully point to the critical need for further conservation efforts for fragile areas such as the habitat of the new species. " [2]

The genus Neopalpa, in which the Trump moth belongs, was first described in 1998 and was only comprised of one species Neopalpa neonata until Nazari examined some specimens from the Bohart Entomology Museum. He thought that some of them might belong to a new species which was confirmed later by DNA analysis. And that's how Neopalpa donaldtrumpi came to be.

Interestingly, one of the reasons he got suspicious was that the N. donaldtrumpi male genitalia structures were smaller than those of Neopalpa neonata. I am sure many Democrats are smiling now :D

Enough with Trump's moth. Let's move to Trump's urchin!

Tetragramma donaldtrumpi

Tetragramma donaldtrumpi (Credit: William Thompson)

This is actually the first animal to be named after Donald Trump. T. donaldtrumpi is a species of fossil sea urchin discovered and identified by fossil hunter William R. Thompson, Jr. in 2016. 

Thompson found five T. donaldtrumpi fossils in the Glen Rose Formation over a period of two years. Inspired by  Trump's campaign, he decided to name the sea urchin after him:

"(The fossil) was named to honor Donald Trump. The name will become a permanent part of the scientific record. Obviously, I'm probably voting for him. I want change..I'd love for him to change the world, or at least the politics of the United States."  said Thompson to mySA.com. [4]

The urchin later became of the highlights of Thompson's book, Fossil Echinoids of Texas, a pictorial collection of fossil sea urchins of Texas.

So, that's it with the animals named after Donald Trump. If a new ones comes out, rest assured, I will be here to let you know!

More Ridiculous Scientific Names

• The Bernie Sanders Spider
• Tritonia khaleesi, Queen of the Nudibranches and the Sea Slugs
• A beetle called Hitler

References & Further Reading

1. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopalpa_donaldtrumpi
2. Sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170117191314.htm
3. Zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=11411
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragramma_donaldtrumpi
5. Mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Seguin-restaurant-owner-names-new-fossil-after-10599248.php
6. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Rose_Formation

My dear readers, thank you for reading today's article. Hopefully, you found it interesting enough to follow me, @trumpman. You may also want to check my strange animal series where you get to discover some of the world's weirdest animals!  Here are the last 3 weirdos of the series: 

1. You Won't Believe What This Tiny Baby Fish Grows Out To Be
2. 8 Strange Animal Stuff I Learned The Past Few Days
3. New Cave Dwelling Animal Discovered With The Help Of Smelly Cheese

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