Someone just paid $25,000 to name a worm-like amphibian after Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s name is attached to a lot of things — Trump Towers, Trump University, The Trump Foundation (oops nevermind) — and now, Dermophis donaldtrumpi — a four-inch-long, worm-like amphibian from Panama. ‘Capable of seeing the world only in black and white, Donald Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax by the Chinese.’

‘The amphibians live almost entirely underground, believed to have lost their limbs at least 60 million years ago, as an adaptation to burrowing. Dermophis donaldtrumpi is a caecilian, a word derived from the Latin for “blind.” The winning bidder, Aidan Bell, is the head of a sustainable building materials company called EnviroBuild, and wound up spending $25,000 to make the environmental and political jab. Dec. 17: Teen activist calls out climate leaders: 'You are not mature enough'

Dec. 11: Almost all of the oldest, thickest ice in the Arctic Ocean is gone due to climate change

The caecilian burrows its head underground, a trait the blog likened to Trump's position on climate change: "Burrowing its head underground helps Donald Trump when avoiding scientific consensus on anthropomorphic climate change and also appointed several energy lobbyists to the Environment Agency, where their job is to regulate the energy industry." Bell also touched on the capability of the dermophis genus to grow an extra layer of skin that their young later peel off and eat, comparing the method, known as dermatrophy, to President Trump granting his children positions within the Oval Office to ensure their “survival in life.”

The newly discovered creature tends to spend a majority of its life underground, another characteristic that Bell found it shares with the president. https://t.co/PSCf5R7CZF pic.twitter.com/NpNG3Ogc9S — Tibor Hartel (@harteltibor) December 18, 2018

“As Demorphus donaldtrumpi is an amphibian, it is particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change and is therefore in danger of becoming extinct as a direct result of its namesake’s climate policies.”

Bell told The Guardian the name was “perfect.”

“Caecilian is taken from the Latin caecus, meaning ‘blind,’ perfectly mirroring the strategic vision President Trump has consistently shown towards climate change,” he said.
EnviroBuild, a sustainable building materials company, pays $US 25,000 to name a newly discovered limbless amphibian Dermophis donaldtrumpi, after U.S President Donald Trump, in disagreement with his environmental policy.