Some species are named aftercelebrities . Others have been named after famous catchphrases . ( Notonebuttwospecies have inexplicably been diagnose " bazinga"after the reference Sheldon Cooper from US sitcomThe Big Bang Theory . ) But , until now , none have been cite after a television receiver show .
The world first goes to the BBC’sBlue Planetand theSyracosphaera azureaplaneta , a very humble and fabulously intricate species of plankton found in oceans across the globe .
The being is just 10 microns across . To put it into perspective , that is roughly seven times little than the breadth of a human pilus .
“ Although microscopic , the plankton are so abundant that they are seeable from quad as swirl bloom in the Earth’s surface oceans , ” study co - source Paul Bown , a professor at UCL ’s Earth Sciences department , said in astatement .
Blue Planetis a BBC - produced nature documentary that first aired in 2001 and was brought back to screens for the wildly successfulBlue Planet IIin 2017 . The new season , hosted ( like the first ) by natural scientist and British institution Sir David Attenborough , has been applauded by critics . In particular , it has been praised for bringing attending tothe sea ’s credit card problem .
" In terms of the link to the Blue Planet series , we felt they were the unobserved stars of the series – hide in unmingled position because of their minuscule size - but representing the beat heart of the ocean , provide food and pump C from the shallow ocean to the mysterious - sea , " Bownadded .
And what does Sir David Attenborough ( who already has 11 species refer after him ) make of the newsworthiness ?
On a tripper to UCL to launch the recently refurbed department of Earth Science , he call off it a " compliment " .
" I ’m not sure about the likeness but it ’s lovely , ” he tote up .
" If you said that plankton , the phytoplankton , the green oxygen - bring out plankton in the sea is more important to our atmosphere than the whole of the rain forest , which I opine is true , people would be astonished .
" They are an all important component in the whole Hz of O output and carbon dioxide and all the residue of it , and you mess about with this sort of thing and the echoes and the reverberations and the consequences unfold throughout the atmosphere . "
