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First it was the Obamadon , a freshly identify ( though out ) toothy lizard from the Late Cretaceous period of North America . And now the 44th U.S. president is getting a hold up tool make after him , too .
Meet the Barack Obama trapdoor wanderer , orAptostichus barackobamai , a coinage found in California . It ’s just one of 33 newly identify specie in the country among 40 in theAptostichusgenus . Several of the other new - to - skill spider have pop culture - barrack cognomen , fromA. pennjillettei(for illusionist and comic Penn Jillette ) andA. bonoi(for U2 frontman Bono ) toA. sarlacc , diagnose after the fearsome " Star Wars " puppet , the Sarlacc , from the fictional desert planet Tatooine .
Female specimen of Aptostichus barackobamai photographed live
Spiders in this group are rarely go out because they live in burrows underground . As their name suggest , they build protective trapdoors made from soil , Baroness Dudevant and silk , which they veil behind , look to pounce on passing quarry .
Jason Bond , a trapdoor spider expert and the conductor of the Auburn University Museum of Natural History , described all 40 species in article published online Dec. 19 in the diary ZooKeys . He expressed astonishment at the diverseness of environments that these spider call home , include coastal sand dune , oak woodland forests and in alpine habitat of the Sierra Nevada heap range .
" California is known as what is characterize as a biodiversity hotspot , " Bond articulate in a statement . " Although this designation is mainly ground on plant diversity , the region is clearly very rich in its brute diversity as well . While it is absolutely remarkable that a large number of coinage from such a intemperately populated area have gone unnoticed , it clear speaks volumes to how little we make love of the biodiversity around us and that many more species on the planet await find . "
