New Species of Smiley-Faced Spiders Named After Obamas, David Bowie

They are the namesakes of 15 new species of “smiley-faced” spiders.

Primarily found basking in the Caribbean sun, the arachnids were discovered by a University of Vermont scientist (and four of his students).

“This was an undergraduate research project,” spider expert Ingi Agnarsson, a professor of biology at UVM, said in a statement.

Named for the smiley face pattern on their abdomens, the Spintharus spider has long been thought to have one widespread species—from northern North America down to northern Brazil.

But when a research team from the Caribbean Biogeography Project (CarBio)—spearheaded by Agnarsson of UVM’s Biology Department and Greta Binford at Lewis & Clark College—looked closer, they found more than 15 regional breeds.

“And if we keep looking, we’re sure there are more,” Agnarsson said.=read more