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Having a street or a college dorm named after you has never seemed that impressive to me. You simply drop an overflowing briefcase on the right desk, and it’s basically a done deal. And while having a theme park or a capital named after you (Dollywood? Monrovia?) is certainly more remarkable, nothing seems as impressive to me as winning the hearts of those surly biologists, who have the power to name a creature after you forever. The following are just a few of the lucky animals to have been blessed with celebrity names.
1. Gary Larson
The Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson has a biting louse (Strigiphilus garylarsoni) named for him. According to Wikipedia, Larson wrote, “I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along.”
2. Bill Gates
Believe it or not, Microsoft’s main man has a Costa Rican flower fly named for him (Eristalis gatesi). When I was thumbing through my internet, I saw several places claim 
that the honor was thanks to his “contributions to dipterology.” I’m guessing that means financial contributions, and not field work, or the effects of Microsoft Word on the discipline. But you can never be sure with these things.
3. Paul Allen
Not to be outdone, his sidekick Paul Allen also has a fly named for him (Eristalis alleni). Somehow Allen ended up with the prettier of the two species, perhaps in compensation for his slightly smaller bank account. [see pic at top]
4. Harrison Ford
If you’re in the mood to catalog Harrison Ford’s many accomplishments, you should know
that he has not one, but two species named for him. That’s right, Han Solo himself lays claim to both a spider (calponia harrisonfordi) and an ant (pheidole harrisonfordi), thanks to his involvement in conservation work and narration of documentaries. As of yet, there’s been no motion to name any snakes after him, though.
5. Boris Becker
Being an Ivan Lendl fan, I was a little disturbed by Boris Becker’s Bufonaria borisbeckeri, a bursid sea snail. Still, that was so many Wimbledons ago, and I can’t hold a grudge forever. After all he’s done for the game, I think the least he deserves is a sea snail.
6. James Brown
Talk about putting the might back in mites! Nothing shakes like the Funkotriplogynium iagobadius. 
According to my web research, the naming is definitely superbad: Iago = James, badius = brown. Who said taxonomists don’t got soul?
7. Jerry Garcia
I wasn’t that surprised to learn that Elvis has a wasp named after him, or that the Beatles have a shaggy nematode named after them thanks to their moptops, but whodathunk Jerry Garcia would have an insect in his honor? In any case, it’s pretty funny that some pot-smokin’ taxonomist decided to name the wood ‘roach’ cryptocercus garciai after the high-flyin’ Grateful Dead guitarist.
8. The Current Administration
Apparently, these names aren’t always flattering. I was kind of shocked to learn that some scientists wear their politics on their labcoat sleeves… and even worse, that they use their powers to poke fun! Such was the case with Agathidium bushi, A. cheneyi and A. rumsfeldi, which are now all scientific names for types of slime mold beetles.
9. Hugh Hefner
Of course, sometimes the admiration, the species and cleverness tie up really nicely, as in Hef’s case. The Playboy magazine founder has an endangered rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) named for him. I once read an interview where Hugh Hefner revealed that his best pick-up line was “Hi, I’m Hugh Hefner.” Perhaps the line will help the endangered bunnies mate like, well, rabbits.
Comments (22)
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These are nothing. Richard Nixon had a male body part named after him.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 2-7-2007 at 3:11 pm
Mark Knopfler has a dinosaur species named after him, Masiakasaurus knopfleri.
posted by Jachim on 2-7-2007 at 3:23 pm
I knew about the Gary Larson one, because the passage you quoted, along with a photo of said insect, is in a Far Side treasury, I believe it’s The Prehistoric Far Side or something like that. I was quite amused by all of them.
posted by Rosalie on 2-7-2007 at 4:24 pm
What about Darwin? Darwin’s Finches are all over the Galapagos. We can’t leave out the grandaddy of animal celebrities can we?
posted by Everythings Irie on 2-7-2007 at 6:45 pm
I think you missed something. My *guess* (just that) is perhaps the flower fly being named after Gates is in reference to the “bugginess” of Microsoft products. THAT is his contribution to dipterology!
posted by Jim on 2-8-2007 at 8:51 am
“What about Darwin? Darwin’s Finches are all over the Galapagos. We can’t leave out the grandaddy of animal celebrities can we?”
Darwin was a scientist first, then a ‘celebrity.’ I don’t think that meets the qualifications for this list…
posted by Trish on 2-8-2007 at 10:27 am
Why would anyone name an animal after Darwin? He was a lunatic, everyone knows the earth was created by God six thousand years ago or so. Anyone who believes otherwise is a filthy heretic.
posted by Gabriel on 2-8-2007 at 10:31 am
Indeed, Jim…having two bugs named after the founders of Microsoft!
And think of how many bugs THEY’VE invented…
posted by Phil E. Drifter on 2-8-2007 at 10:36 am
you missed a really good one, John Cleese of Monty Python fame has a lemur (avahi cleesei) named for him for his efforts in saving the species around the world.
posted by rob on 2-8-2007 at 11:35 am
What about John Cleese I know he has an animal named for him!
posted by Moe on 2-8-2007 at 11:41 am
I know, I know! Being a huge Fawlty Towers fan, I almost wrote up the Cleese bit… it would have been funnier if they named a python after him, though.
I also almost wrote up Miles Davis’ trilobyte (just because I’m a huge Miles fan), and the Conan Doyle dinosaur fossil (also a big Holmes fan), but they both just missed the cut.
posted by Mangesh on 2-8-2007 at 11:52 am
I’m confused – who’s Hans Solo? Is is possible this guy has only seen a bad German bootleg? If you’re going to try and throw in a popular culture reference (albeit one whose popularity has waned among the younger generation, if indeed it ever was “in”), it behooves you to get it right.
Otherwise, instead of coming across as witty and urbane it just reads as…let’s just say poorly “sourced” and leave it at that.
But as I’m the only one to apparently notice it so far, perhaps it’s not that big a deal…it’s not as if our “leaders” don’t rewrite reality daily without comment, after all, so perhaps my expectations of, y’know, actual words used mattering to one’s context, are out of true…
posted by Dagner Mouse on 2-8-2007 at 12:34 pm
thanks for your comment Dagner Mouse! actually, I noticed the Han(s) slip a while back when quite a few farkers commented about it on their site, but I figured it wasn’t that big a deal. My sincerest apologies to you and every one else who took the mistake to heart. I’m hoping that in time you’ll be able to forgive me, and perhaps even give our little site another shot.
posted by Mangesh on 2-8-2007 at 2:03 pm
Dagner Mouse: When you’re making fun of somebody else’s typo, it behooves you to proofread your own comment. “Is is possible”? Obviously a simple typo, but one that means you get to wear the asshat crown today. :)
posted by anon on 2-8-2007 at 2:12 pm
If you descend into the nerdy world of taxonomy you will find dozens if not hundreds of examples. There are a whole set of trilobites named after the Beatles (including a petebesti, yokoonoensis and a georgeepsteeni) there’s a pterosaur named after Steven Spielberg, a beetle named after the Grateful Dead and more.
For common groups like flies and beetles taxonomists often name 10 or 20 species at a time and rapidly run out of names. Turning to celebs is an easy way to go.
posted by Dave Hone on 2-9-2007 at 4:03 am
there is a fish called the jack dempsey cichlid due to its aggressive nature
posted by msn on 9-4-2007 at 7:54 pm
You missed another one – Author Terry Pratchett has a 42 million year old extinct giant turtle has been named after him: Psephophorus Terrypratchetti
posted by Mazekin on 3-10-2008 at 10:25 am
The genius Frank Zappa had a fish, Zappa confluentus, a bacteria, Proteus mirabilis, a jellyfish, Phialella zappai, and a spider, Pachygnatha zappa, named after him. He also has an asteroid named after him, Zappafrank.
posted by bobthewalrus on 3-10-2008 at 12:04 pm
There’s also one of those slime mold beetles named after Darth Vader, due to the fact that it’s black and shiny.
posted by Tyler on 3-10-2008 at 12:09 pm
Proteus mirablis was also named zapA
posted by bobthewalrus on 3-10-2008 at 12:33 pm
I was disappointed to find when I looked up the slime mold beetles that the names were actually supposed to be an honor:
“The decision to name three slime-mold beetles after Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, however, didn’t have anything to do with physical features, says Quentin Wheeler, a professor of entomology and of plant biology at Cornell for 24 years until last October, but to pay homage to the U.S. leaders. “We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage of their convictions 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,” says Wheeler, who named the beetles and wrote the recently published monograph describing the new slime-mold beetle species while a professor at Cornell. “
posted by Stef on 3-10-2008 at 12:57 pm
There is the name Pelecanoides urinatrix elizabethae. Presumably it was named for the queen. The name was published in the 1954 Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. Maybe it was named for another Elizabeth? Yet, it was published two years after she became queen. However, the name today is considered “rejected” in nomenclatural terms for scientific names–this does not represent a distinct, valid population of petrel.
posted by -- on 2-3-2009 at 7:44 pm