New parasite named President Obama

Although not the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama may feel proud to be named for a new parasite by his scientists.

It is the Baracktrema obamai parasite , a thin, hair-like creature, a small flatworm that lives in the blood of turtles.

So far, President Obama's name has been given to a spider, a fish and even an extinct lizard.

Mr. Thomas Platt, a retired professor of biology at Saint Mary's University, Indiana State, USA, who also chose the name, said it was really an honor and not an insult. Mr. Platt - who discovered more than 30 new species of creatures - is the one who discovered and named this new parasite to reward his career before he retired.

Previously, he named them after his father-in-law, the professor instructed him to do a doctoral thesis and the people he respected very much . "This is just a way to honor our president," - Mr. Platt said on September 8. According to him, many people are willing to pay thousands of dollars to get their names given to an organism.

New parasite named President Barack Obama: Baracktrema obamai.(Photo: Popular Science).

The parasite is a species that has a bad reputation for absorbing nutrients and living on its host. However, Professor Platt said the newly discovered creature reminded him of the US president in a positive way: "It is long, thin, interesting and extremely resilient."

Baracktrema obamai has distant relatives with a parasite that causes very dangerous disease in humans . However, they are harmless to turtles.

According to biologist Michael Sukhedo, editor of the Journal of Parasites, parasites are very important to life and around us.

Sukhedo said about 7 out of 10 species of animals on the earth are parasites. Naming a new creature, especially at the end of a career, is an important decision.

It is an honor to be named for a common parasite, but Sukhedo admits that there are some instances where this is a vengeance. He said that once, a biologist took the name of an ex-husband for a whole group of parasites!