After conquering the world of music, entertainment and fashion, Jennifer Lopez seems to have made conquests into far newer territories. A team of researchers have discovered a new water mite, and named it after the world famous pop singer, who performed at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup, 2014, last month in Brazil.
"The reason behind the unusual choice of name for the new species is simple," said Vladimir Pesic, Biologist at the University of Montenegro, "J Lo's songs and videos kept the team in a continuous good mood when writing the manuscript and watching World Cup Soccer 2014."
The pop singer, who was born in the Bronx, seems to have fans from all around the world, and across all communities, even amongst scientists. The new species of water mite was named Litarachna lopezae, as it was found in Costa Rica. Lopez's parents were born in Costa Rica. The scientists reportedly wanted to give the new water mite a name, by which it would be remembered forever.
The new water mite was discovered more than 200 feet beneath the sea level, in a coral reef, near the Mona Passage. The Mona Passage is situated mid-way between Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The surprising fact however, was that the water mite was discovered at a much lower depth than normally found. This may well lead to a change in the conceptions about water mites, which are normally found in shallow pockets in the sea.
The results of the research were published in the Zookey journal. The scientists from the University of Montenegro said that they are big fans of the pop singer. They also said they used every single chance they could get to watch the FIFA World Cup, where Lopez performed during the opening ceremony.
Many organisms have been named after famous personalities over the years. Scientists, as it turns out, are quite big fans of the people on the big screen. The likes of Mick Jagger, Bono and Bob Marley all have trilobites, spiders, and marine parasites named after them, respectively.
Whether J Lo can make it to the heights of these three legends of the music industry, is a questionable fact. However, with the discovery of the Litarachna lopezae, she might just have taken a step towards that direction.
