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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - A group of spiders named after the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is more diverse than initially assumed.
The Frankfurt arachnologist Peter Jäger reports in the specialist journal “Arachnology” about 25 Thunberga species that have now been identified.
About half a year ago he named the spider genus native to Madagascar after the young activist.
"At that time, almost nothing was known about these spiders," explained the researcher from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum in Frankfurt.
The newly discovered species show that the Thunberga giant crab spiders are much more diverse than previously assumed.
For the first time, representatives of this group were also found outside Madagascar.
One of the new descriptions comes from Mayotte, a group of islands between the northern tip of Madagascar and northern Mozambique.
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Jäger dedicated three of the new species to famous people, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai - with the species name Thunberga malala.
Jäger has named spiders after prominent namesake several times in the past - including David Bowie, Udo Lindenberg and punk icon Nina Hagen.
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