Who has most speciesp named after them?
AThe likeliest candidates for this honour are the intrepid naturalists of old who collected specimens on their travels and were rewarded for their efforts by whoever described them. A precise answer is tricky, though, since there is no definitive catalogue of all the species named to date. The best we can go on is the database of specimens at the Natural History Museum, which has been trawled by beetle expert Max Barclay. Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt of penguin ( right) fame scores 139, but is pipped by Captain James Cook’s botanist Joseph Banks (156), Charles Darwin (285) and Alfred Russel Wallace (390). Top of the list is Henry Bates, famous for his work on mimicry, though his 510 may include species named after his brother Frederick.