“The new species from Madagascar was named in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, for her relentless fight for gender equality”, said a statement from the Cleveland Museum.
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Scientists are touting a new way to identify praying mantis species: using female genitalia.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored in a very peculiar way today, scientists have named a newly discovered species of praying mantis after the Supreme Court justice and with good reason. Notably, it’s the first time scientists have determined what species a mantis is by examining the shape of the female’s genitals instead of the male’s.
And the name was also chosen because the praying mantis has a frilly neck decoration that, they believe, resembles Ginsberg’s favorite lacy neckwear.
Ilomantis ginsburgae isn’t particularly noteworthy, in the realm of praying mantises.
Sydney Brannoch, a PhD student at Case Western Reserve University, says, “Female specimens weren’t used to diagnose most species”.
Ginsburg noted she doesn’t participate when the conversation turns to sports. The museum said male genitalia characteristics to this point have been the standard in identifying insect species. “However, we were curious to see if we could use female genital characters to do the same thing”.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 8: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits as the nine members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group photograph to reflect their newest member, Elena Kagan, October, 08, 2010 in Washington, DC.
And, of course, they managed to use female genitalia to identify an entirely new species – a development Brannoch described as “novel”.
Researchers hope focusing on females will make bug categorization easier. If a person finds one sex, they may only be able to identify the specimen if their specimen’s sex matches what is known from previous research.
The gender study was done as part of Svenson’s wider research project that focused on the evolutionary patterns of relationship, distribution, and complex features of praying mantises, said the museum.
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Watch Brannoch’s remarks on the new species, as posted online, below.
