- Anophthalmus hitleri
Taxobox
name = "Anophthalmus hitleri"
status = NE
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
classis =Insect a
ordo = Coleoptera
familia =Carabidae
subfamilia =Trechinae
genus = "Anophthalmus "
species = "A. hitleri"
binomial = "Anophthalmus hitleri"
binomial_authority = Scheibel, 1937"Anophthalmus hitleri" is a species of blind cave
beetle found so far in only five humid caves, all located inSlovenia . [ [http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/taxonomy/taxEtym.html Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature: Etymologies] , "accessed onJune 11 ,2006 "] The blind cave beetle shares its genus with 41 other species and 95 different subspecies. [http://rosegeorge.com/site/a-beetle-called-hitler/ Being a beetle is probably not easy. Even less so, when you're named after Adolf Hitler] , accessed onJune 11 ,2006 "] . Members of this subfamily (Trechinae ) are, like mostCarabidae , predatory, so the adults and larvae of "A. hitleri" are presumed to be predators on smaller cave inhabitants (one of the benefits ofsystematics is that it allows predictions about unknown features of an organism to be made with some confidence, based on knowledge of related species).Name
The Latin name of the beetle comes from a German collector, Oscar Scheibel, who was sold a specimen of a then undocumented species in 1933. Its species name was made a dedication to the Nazi dictator
Adolf Hitler . Thegenus name means "eyeless". The dedication did not go unnoticed by theFührer , who sent Scheibel a letter showing his gratitude. Despite its perceived inappropriateness, it is of taxonomic tradition not to change the binomial name of an organism, with exceptions for religious names, which are not to be made in the first place.Purely as a result of its name, as the species exhibits no characteristics such as extravagant colors or antennae, it is poached by collectors of Hitler memorabilia and beetle collectors. [Entomologische Blätter 33: 438]
See also
*
List of animals named after celebrities References
External links
* [http://www.tagesschau.de/aktuell/meldungen/0,,OID5821132_REF1,00.html German article showing a picture of Anophthalmus hitleri]
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