London: A new species of snail has been named after Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg for her efforts to raise awareness about climate change, say researchers.
The new species — Craspedotropis gretathunberga — is approximately 2mm long and 1mm wide with grey tentacles and a concave shell.
The snail was discovered by a group of citizen scientists working together with scientists from Taxon Expeditions, a company which organises scientific field trips for teams consisting of both scientists and laypeople.
“The newly described snail belongs to the so-called caenogastropods, a group of land snails known to be sensitive to drought, temperature extremes and forest degradation”, said snail expert and co-founder of Taxon Expeditions Menno Schilthuizen.
Having conducted a vote on how to name the species, the expedition participants and the local staff of the National Park together decided to name the mollusc ‘Craspedotropis gretathunbergae’, said the study, published in the Biodiversity Data Journal.
“Naming this snail after Greta Thunberg is our way of acknowledging that her generation will be responsible for fixing problems that they did not create. And it’s a promise that people from all generations will join her to help,” said citizen scientist JP Lim.
The expedition team approached Thunberg who said that she would be ‘delighted’ to have this species named after her.
However, this is not the first time that Taxon Expeditions team names a species in honour of an environmental advocate.
In 2018, they named a new species of beetle after famous actor and climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio.