Ummidia mercedesburnsae

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 11:05:27 -0400

What is the coolest thing named after you? Our very own Dr. Mercedes Burns now has a Trapdoor spider, native to southern Arizona and New Mexico, named in her honor. In a new publication, authors Rebecca Godwin and Jason Bond of University of California, Davis, write "The specific epithet is a patronym in honor of Dr. Mercedes Burns the first female African American arachnologist (to our knowledge)."