Reasons for naming the ferns are at least three-fold, according to the report from Duke University:
"We wanted to name this genus for Lady Gaga because of her fervent defense of equality and individual expression," said study leader Kathleen Pryer, a Duke University biology professor and director of the Duke Herbarium. "And as we started to consider it, the ferns themselves gave us more reasons why it was a good choice."
At one stage of its life, the new genus Gaga has somewhat fluid definitions of gender and bears a striking resemblance to one of Gaga's famous costumes, a heart-shaped Armani Prive' costume with giant shoulders.
The clincher came when graduate student Fay-Wei Li scanned the DNA of the ferns being considered for the new genus. He found GAGA spelled out in the DNA base pairs as a signature that distinguishes this group of ferns from all others.
Awesome, non?
With that in mind, let's take a look at some pretty fern-y things:
4 hellos:
I love this story!
It's the most awesome story, isn't it? Those crazy biologists!
That fern looks nothing like an Armani Prive costume with giant shoulders. TENUOUS!
I believe, my darling, they are referring to the fern gametophyte, not the entire fern ;)
https://today.duke.edu/sites/default/files/gaga1.jpg
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