#taxonomy

#taxonomy

The Inti Tanager Bird in Peru is Nicknamed the "Kill Bill Tanager" Because it Looks Like Uma Thurman's Yellow Jumpsuit in Quentin Tarantino's MovieOn October 10, 2000, a bird's song attracted the attention of ornithologists Daniel Lane and Gary Rosenberg as they led a tour group on the Kosñipata road in southeastern Peru. The captivating warble came from the forested hillside. Rosenberg recorded the sound while Lane surveyed the area with his binoculars. The latter then spotted the bird on a branch, and the two got a glimpse of the bird. It was a yellow bird with a pink bill. It was a bird unknown to the region.Unfortunately, the ornithologists had to leave the area that day, but they would return to look for the mystery bird. They would find the bird again almost after three years, on October 7, 2003. This time, they got a good view of it, and one pointed out the similarity between the bird and Uma Thurman's character in Kill Bill (the yellow tracksuit). The bird earned the nickname The Kill Bill Tanager, and it became a legend among ornithologists.The bird was just recently given an official name 21 years after its sighting: the Inti Tanager. Because of its very different features, the bird was classified as a new genus.More about this over at Audubon.(Image Credit: Daniel Lane)#Ornithology #Tanager #Taxonomy

Trigonopterus corona: New Species of Tiny Beetle Named after the CoronavirusWhat was supposed to be a research trip to Papua New Guinea became a discovery of new weevil species for Alexander Riedel when he found himself grounded on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Together with Raden Pramesa Narakusumo, Riedel studied the local weevil specimens, and they discovered 24 species.The duo found it difficult to name the newly discovered species, but they settled calling one Trigonopterus corona, to show how much impact the pandemic had over the project.Some species had "standard" names, while others were named after Indonesian film characters and Star Wars characters, like the T. gundala and the T. yoda, respectively.Trigonopterus corona is not the first species to be named after the coronavirus. A caddisfly and some wasp species were named after it, too.More about this over at PENSOFT.(Image Credit: Alexander Riedel)#Taxonomy #Weevil #Beetle #NewSpecies

New Fly Species Named for RuPaulCSIRO entomologist Bryan Lessard has now named 50 species of insects. It is a soldier fly of the Opaluma genus found in Australia. The entire genus has only been recently identified. Lessard has been naming species after celebrities since Scaptia beyonceae, the Beyonce fly, in 2011. He says the resulting publicity makes the practice worthwhile to generate interest in threatened species and the importance of preserving their environment.Lessard said naming the soldier fly Opaluma rupaul came as an “obvious decision”.“I was watching a lot of RuPaul’s Drag Race while examining the species and I know it would challenge RuPaul on the runway serving fierce looks,” Lessard said.“It has a costume of shiny metallic rainbow colours, and it has legs for days. I think once (Ru) sees the fly she’ll realise it’s quite fierce and hopefully appreciate the name.”