Former US President Barack Obama have nine different creatures named after him !

Barack Obama left the white house on 20th of Jan 2017. He finished his presidential tenure and is headed on his new journey to become ‘Citizen Barack Obama‘. He may or may not have roles in politics, but his name will live forever. The scientific community have immortalized him by giving his name to nine different creatures from extinct lizards to trapdoor spiders. Obama is going to keep the record of having most animal species named after him among US presidents followed by Theodore Roosevelt with seven. Now President Donald Trump has an extinct sea urchin and scaly headed moth named after him – Tetragramma donaldtrumpi and Neopalpa donaldtrumpi respectively. Sirindhorn, the princess of Thailand, has the most species named after her of any political leader, with thirteen. Lady Gaga has a whooping 19 species of fern named after her.

Nine different creatures that have been named after Barack Obama

• Aptostichus barackobamai, a trapdoor spider that lives in northern California

Aptostichus barackobamai, a trapdoor spider that lives in northern California

 Barack Obama trapdoor spider (Aptostichus barackobamai) is a species of spider in the family Euctenizidae. The species was first reported by Professor Jason Bond of Auburn University in December 2012. As the name suggests, these spiders build protective trapdoors made from soil, sand and silk, which they hide behind, waiting to pounce on passing prey.

• Etheostoma obama, a colorful freshwater darter fish found in the eastern US

Etheostoma obama, the spangled darter

Etheostoma obama, the spangled darter, is a species of darter endemic to the eastern United States where it is only known to occur in the Duck River and the Buffalo River, both in Tennessee. Male fishes are resplendent in bright orange and iridescent blue spots, stripes and checks.

• Tosanoides obama, a coral reef fish that lives off the coast of Hawaii

Tosanoides obama, a coral reef fish

The new species Tosanoides obama is described from two specimens collected at a depth of 90–92 m off Kure Atoll and Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was first discovered and named by Richard Pyle, Brian Greene and Randall Kosaki in December 2016.

• Obamadon gracilis, an extinct, foot-long lizard that ate insects and lived in ancient North America

An extinct, foot-long lizard that ate insects

Obamadon is an extinct genus of polyglyphanodontian lizard from the Late Cretaceous of North America. The small, insect-eating lizard was first discovered in eastern Montana in 1974 but a re-examination in 2012 showed the fossil had been wrongly classified as a Leptochamops denticulatus and was, in fact, a new species. A team of scientists at Yale and Harvard were behind this classification.

• Caloplaca obamae, an orange lichen that lives in California

An orange lichen that lives in California

Researcher at UC Riverside discovered this new species of lichen. The new species was identified in 2007 while doing a survey for lichen diversity on Santa Rosa Island in California. Lichens, which grow slowly and live for many years, result from fungi and algae living together.

• Teleogramma obamaorum, a fish that lives in the Congo

Cichlid species from the freshwater heart of the African continent

This cichlid species from the freshwater heart of the African continent is named in honor of U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, in recognition of their commitment to science education, development, gender equality, and self-reliance for all peoples of African nations.  This a small snail-eating ciclid and was discovered in 2011 in the lower Congo River by biologist Liz Alter of the City University of New York and Melanie Stiassny, of the Department of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History.

• Nystalus obamai, a bird that lives in the Amazon 

Nystalus obamai is a western striolated puffbird/Joao Quental via Flickr.

Nystalus obamai is a western striolated puffbird.  Bret Whitney from Louisiana State University  named it Nystalus obamai in a June 2013 Handbook of the Birds of the World paper . This bird live mostly solitary lives in the Amazonian treetops.

• Baracktrema obamai, a parasite from Malaysia that lives in turtles

Blood fluke found infecting the lungs of turtles

Baracktrema obamai is a new species of blood fluke found infecting the lungs of turtles in Malaysia. This worm was discovered by biologist Thomas Platt. These are as thin as human hair and reside in the turtles’ lungs, where they lay their eggs.

• Paragordius obamai, a parasite from Kenya that lives in humans

A parasite from Kenya that lives in humans

This parasite is found in Kenya. P.obamai is a new species from the phylum Nematomorpha (a sister phylum to Nematoda, where we find organisms like Ascaris and hookworms). This parasite reproduces asexually and  are found in large, fast-moving waters.