Sixteen new spider species named after Jay Chou's songs

A paper written by Chinese scientists, titled "Description of six new genera and twenty species of the orb-weaver spider family Araneidae (Araneae, Araneoidea) from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China" was recently published. Among the 20 new species described, 16 were named after songs by Jay Chou, such as C. xingqing sp. nov., C. longquan sp. nov., and Pengaraneus qingtian sp. nov.

This paper was published in Zoological Research: Diversity and Conservation, and available online on December 18, 2024.

The first author of this paper is Professor Mi Xiaoqi from Tongren University, and the corresponding author is Researcher Li Shuqiang. The website unveiled that the research was carried out by Li Shuqiang's team at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), starting in 2006, and has resulted in 78 taxonomy-related papers published in international journals.

Mi told the Hongxing News that naming species requires ensuring that there are no duplicates within a group, and it took considerable time to name the 16 new spider species. Using song titles made the naming process quicker and simpler. 

Mi also mentioned that in this study, they discovered six new genera and 16 new species, all of which belong to the family Araneidae. Mi also emphasized the importance of paying more attention to and protecting biodiversity.

Mi mentioned that he enjoys listening to Jay Chou's music in daily life as a way to relax and unwind.

The news has sparked widespread discussions online, with netizens humorously "shouting" to Jay Chou, saying "Your fans are now scientists!"

Some people remarked that the spider names sound very cool, and it seems like the author named them while listening to Jay Chou's songs.

In fact, this is not the first time Jay Chou's fans have appeared in the scientific world. In 2020, Sun Zhixin, then a master degree candidate from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, named a unique 500-million-year-old trilobite he discovered Phantaspis?auritus.

Sun explained to Science and Technology Daily that Jay Chou's songs have had a significant influence on him. By naming the trilobite Phantaspis?auritus, he intended to pay tribute to Jay Chou's whimsical musical style. It is a romantic gesture from a science enthusiast.