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Presidential species
The study of taxonomy is often a slog . There are measuring to take , technical descriptions to spell and databases to parse — all tasks that require nothing short of punctilious , unflagging preciseness . The assignment of a new species , on the other hand , can be an exhilarating , even a celebratory experience . scientist have been get it on to christen their discoveries after famous people , whether as an expression of their admiration or to draw public interest to their study . It ’s nice oeuvre if you could get it : airdrome , schooltime and libraries may arrive and go , but the taxonomic record is forever and a day . In honor of the birth of American independence , here are 11 U.S. presidents who have been immortalized in " lifetime ’s filing system . "
Washington’s wasp
Named after George Washington , Heterospilus washingtoniis a parasitic wasp that lives primarily in Costa Rica . Although there are light taxonomic similarity between the critter and the father of the United States , both can claim declamatory household . The diverseHeterospilusgenus includes about 280 known species .
Jefferson mollusk
Call theChesapecten jeffersoniusa founding fogy . When English natural scientist Martin Lister published a draft of the scallop ’s then - unclassified remains in 1687,C. jeffersoniusbecame the first North American fossil to be rendered in the scientific lit . Like our third president , the mollusc call Virginia home , albeit during the Pliocene , some 4 million to 5 million years ago . Due to its prevalence in the Old Dominion State , C. jeffersoniuswas named the official state dodo .
Lincoln’s exclusive club
As a genus , Lincolnais an sole club . Only two coinage of epenthetic wasp — L. aldrovandiiandL. sismondini — can claim rank . Alexandre Arsène Girault , the American - turned - Australian bugologist who described them in the 1930s , frequently title Modern mintage after citizenry he admire . Other genera he named includeDavincia , ShakespeariaandBeethovena .
Shrew for Teddy
Few achievements shiver Theodore Roosevelt as much as his work to conserve natural resources . Besides instal the U.S. Forest Service , create five new National Parks and placing more than 230 million Akka of land under Union protection , Roosevelt also bring his name toCrocidura roosevelti , a lilliputian shrew that gambols in the moist savannas of Central and East Africa .
Named for FDR
While his remote first cousin Theodore is known as the " natural scientist president , " Franklin D. Roosevelt was no slouch when it came to animal conservation , either . After cruise the Clipperton , Coco and Galapagos Islands with F.D.R. in 1938 , Smithsonian scientists wound up discover several new species after their host . Among them?Siriella roosevelti , a shrimp - like crustacean .
Carter darter
Commonly know as the bluegrass darter , Etheostoma jimmycarterdwells in the Green River drainage basin in Kentucky and Tennessee . It get its cognomen from Jimmy Carter , whose bequest let in expanding the National Park System to include the trade protection of 104.3 million acres of Alaskan land .
Reagan gets an insect, too
Another member of theHeterospilustribe , H. reaganiresides in Costa Rica with rough 280 of its brethren coinage . Beyond its name , there ’s little to connect the worm to our 40th president , although Ronald Reagan did inspect the Central American country at the invitation of his vis-a-vis , Luis Alberto Monge , in 1982 .
Clinton’s beaded darter
Like Bill Clinton , Etheostoma clinton , a.k.a . the beaded anhinga , hails from Arkansas , specifically the upper Caddo and upper Ouachita Rivers . Steve Layman , the environmental scientist who described the Pisces in 2012 , dedicated it to the 42nd president to toast his environmental work , which included the saving of millions of acres of wilderness and the enhance trade protection of national forests .
Slime mold beetle named for Bush
George W. Bush , his frailty president Dick Cheney and erstwhile Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have more than an organization in coarse . Each of the tercet also has a slime stamp beetle named in his honour . " We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the bravery of their conviction and are willing to do the very difficult and unpopular work of living up to principles of freedom and democracy rather than accepting the expedient or popular , " Quentin Wheeler , one of two former Cornell University bugologist who account the species , includingAgathidium bushi , order in a financial statement in 2005 . ( Shown here , another species in theAgathidium . )
Barack’s blood fluke
Although it may not seem that way , the scientists who name a species of blood good fortune after Barack Obama meant the byname as a compliment . Found in the lung of Malaysian fresh water turtles , Baracktrema obamaiis a subject area in resiliency , according to biologist Thomas Platt , who helped give away the parasitic platyhelminth in 2015 . fellow member of the species " front incredible obstruction to complete their [ life cycles ] and must contend with the resistant organisation of the host so as to suppurate and reproduce , " Platt said in a financial statement . " B. obamaiwill endure as long as there are systematists studying these remarkable organisms . "
