Researchers in the US have named anew parasite after US President Barack Obama -? and there’s no worming out of it.
In the Journal of Parasitology, a new species of parasite has entered the scientific taxonomy:’Baracktrema obamai’.
Thomas R Platt, the journal article’s co-author and Obama’s fifth cousin, twice-removed, chose the name and believes that the president should consider it an honour, not an insult.
Platt, who discovered and named the flatworm to crown his career before retiring, has 32 new species to his credit. In the past, he’s named them after his father-in-law, his doctorate adviser and other people he have a great deal of respect for.
“This is clearly something in my small way done to honor our president,” Platt said.Obama already has a spider, a fish and even an extinct dinosaur named after him.
