But it's very difficult to change a species' scientific name, and that can lead to regrets.
The list of species named for celebrities is lengthy and includes everything from flies (Beyoncé) to lichen (Oprah Winfrey) to lizards (Lionel Messi).
An eponym is a scientific species name based on a person, either real or fictional.
AdvertisementAdvertisementUniversity of Oxford biologist Katie Blake and her co-authors found that species with celebrity names had almost three times as many page views on Wikipedia as non-famously monikered control species.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSome examples include Adolf Hitler, Cecil Rhodes, and George Hibbert, all of whom have species named after them.
Persons:
—, Taylor Swift, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Attenborough, Oprah Winfrey, Lionel Messi, Jimmy, Sericomyrmex radioheadi, Tarantobelus, roundworm, Jeff Daniels, Taylor Swift's millipede, Katie Blake, cuvier, Georges Cuvier, Andre Seale, Blake, Hitler, Christopher Bae, Adolf Hitler, Cecil Rhodes, George Hibbert, Sergio Pitamitz, Bae, Cecil John Rhodes, There's, heidelbergensis, CESAR MANSO, Rhodes, bodoensis, Bodo D'ar, Jimmy Buffett’s “, Hal Horowitz, Hibbert, George Rinhart, Stephen B, Heard, Charles Darwin's Barnacle, David Bowie's Spider
Organizations:
Service, Virginia Tech, University of Oxford, VW, Getty, University of Hawai'i, American Ornithological Society, NPR
Locations:
Mano, Slovenia, Africa, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Right, Spain, AFP, Ethiopia