Just Gaga for Gaga
March 25, 2013
A new genus of ferns–the Gaga–has been named in honor of pop superstar Lady Gaga. The Gaga genus is made up of 19 separate fern species native to Central and South America and southern North America. “We wanted to name this genus for Lady Gaga because of her fervent defense of equality and individual expression,” noted Kathleen Pryer, a Duke University biology professor. “And as we started to consider it, the ferns themselves gave us more reasons why it was a good choice.” The genus’s DNA sequence is GAGA, that is, guanine, adenine, guanine, adenine.
The majority of species making up the newly christened genus are not new but rather reclassifications of existing species. However, two are newly discovered: Gaga germanotta, which refers to Gaga’s real name, Stefani Germanotta; and Gaga monstraparva, which is Latin for Lady Gaga’s pet name for her fans–the “Little Monsters.”
New fern genus named for Lady Gaga. (© Jason Merritt, Getty Images)
Duke Today, the Duke campus newspaper, quoted Pryer as saying, “We think that [Gaga's] second album, Born this Way, is enormously empowering, especially for disenfranchised people and communities like LGBT, ethnic groups, women–and scientists who study odd ferns!” LGBT is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.
Additional World Book articles:
- Classification, Scientific
- Popular music 2011 (a Back in Time article)
