Wednesday, October 24, 2012 3:13am ET by  
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Species of plant to be named after Lady Gaga

A variety of ferns plant is to be named after Lady Gaga.

Duke University's professor of biology Dr. Kathleen Pryer has been studying the cheilanthoid ferns recently and she found that they are unusual in terms of their habitat.

It is said that 19 species of the plant share a different DNA trait and she told MTV News that she decided to name the group after 'Born This Way' star Gaga because of the singer's "diversity".

It is said that the study has also found two new species of the ferns, which are now called Gaga germanotta and Gaga monstraparva. Speaking about the research, Pryer said:

"We study, in particular, a group of ferns called the cheilanthoid ferns, there are about 500 or 600 of them, and many of them tend to be more adapted to living in desert situations, which is unusual for ferns. We've been doing a lot of molecular sequencing, looking at a lot of plant material, doing a lot of field work, so we're now at the point where we're concluding some of the work, and we have enough evidence to be able to look at all the data and say, 'Hmmm, there's this group here that is really in the wrong genus. We need to give it a new name.'."

She continued: "So often, people give names in honour of old white guys that have worked on ferns for a long time, but we didn't want to do that. And there were so many things about these 'Gaga ferns' that we decided to name the new genus after her, to celebrate diversity."

 

 

 

Watch the video for Lady Gaga's 'Marry The Night' below: