8 celebs with entire species named after them

Two incredibly cute burrowing owls have been revealed at Blair Drummond Safari Park. Their names? Ant and Dec.

Fri, 08 Aug, 2014 - 01:00

But while it’s impressive to have some adorable zoo owls named in your honour, other celebrities have had entire species named after them. Usually these aren’t nearly as sweet…

1. Barack Obama

Barack Obama as a trapdoor spider — (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Matt Reinbold/Flickr)

Aptostichus barackobamai is a species of trapdoor spider – the sneakiest of all the spiders. The President is popular with scientists – he’s also got a species of lichen, a small fish, a parasitic worm and an extinct lizard named after him.

The lizard is called “Obamadon”. Just awesome.

2. George W. Bush

George Bush as a beetle — (Susan Walsh/AP/gbohne/Flickr)

Dub-Ya may not have as many species to his name as his charismatic successor, but at least he gets one beetle - Agathidium bushi. The same beetle also comes in Agathidium cheneyi and Agathidium rumsfeldi varieties, named after two of George’s political pals.

3. Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga as a wasp — (Wally Santana/AP/US Department of Agriculture/Flickr)

Mother Monster is has given her name to a real life little monster – this wasp called Aleiodes gaga that lays its eggs inside caterpillar hosts. The babies then eat the poor baby butterfly from the inside out.

She’s also got a whole genus (i.e. a group of species) of ferns named after her – that’s 19 different ferns.

4 and 5. Liv Tyler and Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet and Liv Tyler as a carabid beetle — (Jimi Celeste/AP/Jon Furniss/Invision/Kerry Wixted/Flickr)

Agra katewinsletae and Agra livare both types of carabid beetle. Arnold Schwarzenegger has also given his name to a carabid.

6. Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury as an isopod — (PA Archive/NOAA Ocean Explorer/Flickr)

For a man that was always in the limelight, the Queen frontman is named after a rather obscure deep-sea crustacean. Cirolana mercuryi might look like a hideous alien, but don’t worry – it’s very small.

7. Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg as a pterosaur — (Myung Jung Kim/PA/Richie Graham/Flickr)

Of course, it’s a prehistoric reptile. Might be a bittersweet choice though. It’s a type of creature that only appeared right at the end of the second Jurassic Park – just before Spielberg stopped directing the films. Why you hating on the pterosaurs Steve?!