Gaga (plant)
| Gaga | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pteridophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida/Pteridopsida (disputed) |
| Order: | Polypodiales |
| Family: | Pteridaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cheilanthoideae |
| Genus: |
Gaga Pryer, Fay W.Li & Windham |
| Type species | |
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Gaga marginata (Kunth) Fay W.Li & Windham |
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| Species | |
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Gaga (gaga lipfern) is a genus of 19 species of ferns in the family Pteridaceae named after American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga. Two of the 19 species are newly-described—Gaga germanotta from Costa Rica, named after the family of the singer (she was born Stefani Germanotta), and Gaga monstraparva, in honor of Gaga's fans, whom she calls "little monsters". According to biologists, the ferns bear a close resemblance to Gaga's costume from the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and also bear a distinct DNA sequence spelling GAGA.
Except for the two new species, the rest of the Gaga ferns were reclassified, having previously been assigned to the genus Cheilanthes, based on their outward appearance. Biologists at Duke University explained that they listed the ferns with the name Gaga, due to the singer's active support of equality and individual expression. The decision received widespread attention from the science community and the media.
In September 2012, scientists at Chulalongkorn University had given Lady Gaga's name to a species of newly identified parasitic wasp, Aleiodes gaga. A month later, researchers at Duke University in North Carolina discovered two new species of fern in Central and South America, Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. They were named Gaga germanotta, after the singer's family—she was born Stefani Germanotta—and Gaga monstraparva, after a name for Gaga's fans, known as "little monsters". The ferns were discovered in Costa Rica and Mexico primarily. Another 17 species of ferns had been assigned to the genus Cheilanthes, but were reclassified under Gaga, making a total of 19 species in the genus.
According to Kathleen Pryer, president of the American Fern Society, American Society of Plant Taxonomists and study leader of the research group, they often "listen[ed] to [Gaga's] music while we do our research... We think that her second album, Born This Way (2011), is enormously empowering, especially for disenfranchised people and communities like LGBT, ethnic groups, women—and scientists who study odd ferns!" As the team started considering a name for the ferns, they noticed that one of them had the base pair sequence "G–A–G–A" (guanine, adenine, guanine, adenine) in its DNA. This was noticed by one of the graduate students, Fay-Wei Li, who had scanned the base pairs and found the sequence. The ferns had the ability to self-fertilize and had "fluid definitions of gender". This gave the scientists concrete reason for naming the species as Gaga.
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