N e lson M a nd e l a i mmorta l i s e d i n b i od i v e rs i t y
Trichogramma mandelai Bruchophagus mandelai Mandelia mirocornata Mandelacrinus nelsoni Acritus mandelai Singafrotypa mandela Stasimopus mandelai Vulcanobatrachus mandelai Sabiella mandelania Anelosimus nelsoni Microporella madiba Hydraena nelsonmandelai Triacanthella madiba Australopicus nelsonmandelai Bana madiba Belesica madiba Munidopsis mandelai Carebara madibai
In a recent study of world biodiversity, it was estimated that there was a total of about 10.95 million species of animals, plants, fungi and protists (that means everything except bacteria and Archaea), of which only about 1.43 million species (13%) have been given names. Recent new genetic methods of analyzing environmental samples (metagenomics) are revealing that bacteria and Archaea (prokaryotes) are also highly diverse and that we have hardly scraped the surface of their diversity. Understanding the life around us is very important as it impacts on human life in numerous ways: we need organisms for food, some species are pests of crops and livestock, others are beneficial in killing pests, some species cause disease, and many species are of ecological and environmental importance. The backbone to our understanding of life on earth is the system we use for naming all these different organisms. Linnaeus in the 18th century came up with the binomial system of nomenclature in which the name we give to a species is made up of two Latin-based words, the first, called the genus epithet, referring to the genus to which the species belongs and the second, called the species epithet, being a unique name within that genus. So the scientific name for humans is Homo sapiens (Homo being the genus epithet and sapiens being the species epithet) and for the Housefly is Musca domestica.
Nelson Mandela was named one of the 100 icons of the 20th century because of his fight against the unjust apartheid system. He became a universal symbol representing unity, peace, justice, human rights and equal rights. This symbolism has been immortalised in the natural world. Natural scientists face an ongoing challenge in finding appropriate names for new organisms that they have to describe, and they often name them in honour of some of the most famous people in world history. Because of his globally renowned status (he was referred to by Time Magazine in the year 2000 as an ‘icon of our planet’), South Africa’s beloved President Nelson Mandela is exemplary in this regard. To date, at least 17 new species have been named after him. These include ants, flies, spiders, beetles, wasps, lobsters and now-extinct birds and frogs. Some of these are illustrated and described on the pages which follow. As far as can be established, no plant species have yet been named after Nelson Mandela. However, a cross-generic hybrid orchid, called Paravanda ‘Nelson Mandela’, was dedicated to him on the occasion of his visit to the National Orchid Garden in Singapore on 5 March 1997. In addition, a yellow-flowering variety of Strelitzia reginae has been called Strelitzia reginae ‘Mandela’s Gold’ by the National Botanical Gardens (now the SA National Biodiversity Institute) at Kirstenbosch. Hamish G. Robertson Director, Iziko Natural History Collections November 2015
Vulcanobatrachus mandelai. A species of extinct frog, described in 2005 by Linda Trueb of the University of Kansas, Callum Ross of the University of Chicago and Roger Smith of Iziko Museums of South Africa. The fossils from which this species was described came from a volcanic crater lake deposit on Stompoor Farm in the Northern Cape, and are dated to about 80 million years ago, when dinosaurs dominated earth. Examples of these fossils are on display in the African Dinosaurs exhibition at the Iziko South African Museum. Dedication: “The specific epithet honors Nelson Mandela, the first popularly elected leader of the Republic of South Africa”.