Researchers in Taiwan have taken the unusual step of naming a newly identified species of snail in recognition of same-sex marriage rights. Dubbed Aegista diversifamilia, the hermaphroditic species was so named to reflect the “diversity of sexual orientation in the animal kingdom”, said Dr Yen-Chang Lee, who co-authored the study published on Monday in the journal ZooKeys.

Dr Lee explained that the team’s research coincided with major struggles for same-sex marriage rights in Taiwan and worldwide, which the scientists decided to recognise through the naming of their snail. Since it was first proposed last October, the Taiwanese legislature has shelved a landmark bill to legalise same-sex marriage, leading to protests outside the parliament gates last week. “We decided that maybe this is a good occasion to name the snail to remember the struggle for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights,” Dr Lee said.

The snail, a land species endemic to Taiwan, was previously thought to be a member of the common species Aegista subchinensis. But in 2003, co-author Dr Yen-Chang Lee noticed a morphological difference between the eastern and western types of the snail. The eastern snail type, which has a larger and flatter shell than its western counterpart, was later confirmed through molecular analysis to be a new species.

The published name is now part of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature’s official taxonomic registry, Zoobank. The only other requirement to have your name accepted is to submit examples of the species to a museum or similar institution so that they can be made available to other researchers, and six such specimens have already made the long journey from Taiwan to the Natural History Museum in London.



And while a Code of Ethics exists that urges authors to avoid names that may cause offence, the code is self-imposed and does not specifically apply to names that may be political in nature. “As long as it is not offensive, you can name it whatever you like,” said Jon Ablett, curator of the Mollusca department at the museum.

While perhaps none is quite so illustrious, A. diversifamilia joins many other species named after celebrities or circumstances, from a beetle named after Arnold Schwarzenegger for its markedly biceps-like legs, a lichen named after Barack Obama in recognition of his support for science education, a spider named after Angelina Jolie for her work with the UN High Commission for Refugees, and the slime molds named after George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld.

“You can even name it after yourself,” Ablett said. “But it is frowned upon.”