A diminutive brown snail species has been named after Greta Thunberg, with researchers saying they named the mollusc for the Swedish climate worrier because her generation “will be responsible for fixing problems they did not create.”
The new species – Craspedotropis gretathunberga – is approximately one inch long and half an inch wide with grey tentacles and a concave shell. It is found in the mountainous foothills of Borneo.
“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,” says snail expert Dr Menno Schilthuizen.
“All individuals were found very close to the research field station at the foot of a steep hill-slope, next to a river bank, while foraging at night on the green leaves of understorey plants.”
Thunberg told the group she was “delighted” that the snail had been named after her, researchers said.
The announcement came just days after it was revealed a book and stage musicials are planned to help build Thunberg and her family’s global media profile.
As Breitbart News reported, BBC Studios’ Science Unit also announced earlier this month it is working on a new series fronted by Thunberg in an effort to both tell her life story and chronicle her global travels.
Citizen scientist J.P. Lim was the first person to find Greta Thunberg’s snail and add to that building catalogue of global applause.
He said: “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.”
This is the second invertebrate to be named for Thunberg.
Last year, a beetle was named after her by the UK’s Natural History Museum , as Breitbart News reported.