Peter Jäger is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

, and current Head of Arachnology at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a contin ...

. He has named several spiders after celebrities; in 2008, he named '' Heteropoda davidbowie'' after British singer

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, and '' Heteropoda ninahagen'' after German singer

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during the punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is ...

. In 2012, he discovered a new species in a cave in Laos, known colloquially at the time as the Giant Laotian harvestman. In 2013, he named '' Ctenus monaghani'' (currently in the genus '' Bowie'') after actor

Dominic Monaghan Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan (born 8 December 1976) is a British-Irish actor. He is best known for playing Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck in Peter Jackson's film trilogy ''The Lord of the Rings'' (2001–2003), and Charlie Pace on the ...

, to honor his work in the documentary series ''

Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan ''Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan'' is a wildlife documentary series commissioned by Channel 5 and BBC America and presented by actor Dominic Monaghan, who also serves as an executive producer for the show. Each hour-long episode follows Monagh ...

''. In 2020, Jäger named a new genus and species of

huntsman spider Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), catch their prey by hunting rather than in webs. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to ...

s from

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

after

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

. The new spider is named ''

Thunberga greta ''Thunberga'' is a genus of east African huntsman spiders. The genus was first described by Peter Jäger in 2020, and it has only been found on Madagascar and on Mayotte. It is named after the environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Species it co ...

''. In 2022, he named 54 species of huntsman spiders from across Asia under the new genus '' Bowie'' in commemoration of the musician

75th's birthday, the second time the musician's name was honored.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people German arachnologists {{Germany-scientist-stub