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Darmstadt (dpa) - A German researcher has discovered a previously unknown species of ant in the tropical forests of Ecuador and has given it a gender-neutral name.
The PhD student in the Department of Biology at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Philipp Hönle, found the ant in an investigation in a highly endangered part of a reserve in 2018, writes the publisher Pensoft Publishers in a message.
The team around Hönle presents the ant species in his zoological magazine “ZooKeys”.
Hönle turned to an expert from Yale University, who soon discovered that this species is different from many others of its genus.
The animal is characterized, among other things, by its long muzzle jaw mouthparts, which makes it unique in its genus.
With the scientific name “Strumigenys ayersthey”, the ant is probably one of the first species with a gender-neutral name.
The previously common form of naming with the feminine ending of the Latin language "ae" or the masculine ending "i" has been replaced by the English "they" and is thus neutral, emphasizes the publisher.
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