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New Beetle Named After Charles Darwin and David Sedaris

Posted by samzenpus on from the what's-in-a-name? dept.

sciencehabit writes "On Charles Darwin's 205th birthday, one beetle he found in Argentina is being recognized as a new species. An entomologist discovered the insect, with unusually saw-toothed antennae and a label reading 'C. Darwin', in a collection on loan from the Natural History Museum in London, where it had been misplaced for at least decades. The beetle represented a new species, Darwinilus sedarisi, named after Darwin and the writer David Sedaris, whose audiobooks the scientist listened to while preparing specimens."

5 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. David Sedaris? by CrankyFool · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm ... really sure that Darwin did not listen to David Sedaris' audiobooks while categorizing species. Working out why this is so is left up to the student as an exercise.

  2. So now ... by PPH · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... there are John, Paul, George, Ringo and Darwinilus Sedarisi.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:So now ... by rossdee · · Score: 2

      John and George are extinct

    2. Re:So now ... by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      Well, the story did say new beetle....

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  3. The beetle is not a new species. by Sique · · Score: 2

    Actually, the London specimen of beetle was collected by Charles Darwin himself on his journey with the HMS Beagle. But it was never classified. As far as I know, there are only two known specimen, the one in the London Natural History Museum and the other in a collection in Berlin. It is not known if the beetle still lives in the bay Charles Darwin found him, or if the species has died out since.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*