Don't be surprised if you see Lady Gaga sporting a plant-inspired outfit at the 2013 Grammys. Researchers at Duke University have named a new genus of the fern plant after the Head Monster, The Guardian reported yesterday.
The "Gaga" genus of ferns are found in Central and South America, Mexico, and Arizona. Two species are completely new—Gaga germanotta and Gaga monstraparva—while 17 other species are being re-categorized. Research group leader and Duke biology professor, Kathleen Pryer, said the genus, a group of closely related species, was named after the pop star due to "her fervent defense of equality and individual expression."
Don't worry, there's a more scientific explantion than that. Pryer noticed that the outfit Gaga wore to the 2010 Grammys closely resembled the "bisexual reproductive stage of the ferns, called a gametophyte." (Image 2). What's more, one Duke graduated student studied the DNA of one species of the fern genus and found "GAGA spelled out in the DNA base pairs as a signature that distinguishes this group of ferns from all others."
This is definitely cooler than her butt inspiring a line of handbags.
[Duke via The Guardian]
