New bee species named ‘Bazinga’ as homage to ‘Big Bang Theory’ and Jim Parson’s Sheldon Cooper
“Big Bang Theory” physicist Sheldon Cooper has a new claim to fame – a new species of bee is named after his favorite phrase: Bazinga!
Nemésio & Ferrari 2012
Brazilian biologist Andre Nemesio said on Wednesday he named a species of Brazilian orchid bee Euglossa bazinga in honor of “the clever, funny, ‘nerd’ character Sheldon Cooper,” because the bee had tricked scientists for some time with its similarity to other species.
“Sheldon Cooper’s favorite comic word bazinga, used by him when tricking somebody, was here chosen to represent the character,”according to a paper written by Nemesio and his team. “Euglossa bazinga has tricked us for some time due to its similarity to E. ignita, what led us to use bazinga.”
“We are always extremely flattered when the science community embraces our show,” said Executive Producer Steven Molaro in a statement. “Sheldon would be honored to know that Euglossa bazinga was inspired by him. In fact, after Mothra and griffins, bees are his third-favorite flying creatures.”
Actor Jim Parsons has won two Emmys for his lead performance as Cooper.
