The Fourth of July is far too early, for all but the obsessively well-organized, to contemplate Christmas shopping. But some of you might want to jump on a new gift-giving idea - before all the really good microbes are snapped up.
You won't find these particular microbes at your local big-box store. Well, you might, but tucking one of them under the tree won't elicit the same kind of "Oh, myyyy!" as the microbes - and plants and animals - available for purchase at distinctive shops like the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Scripps, based at the University of California, is among research facilities and conservation groups that have started selling the naming rights to species that don't have one yet, according to the Associated Press.
Traditionally, the people who find or identify new species have dibs on bestowing names. Usually they choose to honor themselves or loved ones. But a few years ago, scientists and conservationists hit upon the idea of selling the rights, much the way sports franchises squeeze more money out of stadiums and arenas.
A few years ago, the Wildlife Conservation Society raised $650,000 for a newly discovered species of monkey in Bolivia. The high bidder was an Internet gambling site.
Purists among us will, of course, object to the commercialization of the natural world. But it's all about survival of the fittest, isn't it?
At Scripps, naming rights start at $5,000. Now available, while supplies last, are an orange speckled nudibranch - a romantic gift for your spouse? - and a rare hydrothermal vent worm, which could be the perfect tribute to your boss.
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