A new frog species, discovered in Ecuador, has been named after Academy Award-winning Hollywood Leonardo DiCaprio, owing to the Titanic star’s passionate work for the environment, according to a report in The Telegraph. The frog has been named Phyllonastes Dicaprioi and is one of the seven new species uncovered by researchers from Ecuador’s National Institute of Biodiversity, the Catholic University of Ecuador, and the San Francisco University of Quito (USFQ).
“This study highlights the importance of protecting the unique habitats where these species live,” USFQ said in a statement.
The frog species named after the actor can be found in the Western Mountain Forest in the province of El Oro, Ecuador. It is small and brown with darker spots on its body with scientists stating that it lives 1,330 and 1,705 metres above sea level.
Mr DiCaprio is one of the biggest A-list celebrities from Hollywood that is actively into environmental causes. He founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to raise awareness about environmental issues.
He also supported the closure of a controversial oil drilling project in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park which prompted the scientists to honour the 50-year-old actor.
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In October last year, a new snake species discovered in the Himalayas was also named after Mr DiCaprio. Named ‘Anguiculus dicaprioi’, the snake species can be found between central Nepal to Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh.
The snake was first discovered by Virender Bhardwaj in the backyard of his home in the western Himalayas during the COVID-19 lockdown. He posted its pictures on social media, leading to lot of buzz online which resulted in a three-year-long investigation to identify the snake which resembled ‘Liopeltis rappi’ — a species known to be distributed in the eastern Himalayas.
Prior to Mr DiCaprio, a new species of snake was named Tachymenoides harrisonfordi after Harrison Ford, the Indiana Jones actor. In 2017, a pistol shrimp was named Synalpheus pinkfloydi in honour of the rock band by zoologist and Pink Floyd fan Dr Sammy de Grave.