Ego Research Funds at Purdue University

If you can cough up enough cash, Purdue University will let you name a turtle or bat species. Harrison Ford did it and named a butterfly “Georgia” after his daughter. Steven Colbert groused enough that he got a species named after him.

Trendhunteraraptor: Insatiable hunter/gatherer of the wily trends. Especially diligent and focused species known to lurk in the deep web.

The money Purdue University raises will support future research into new species.

The list of bidders has been an eclectic one, including amongst others: a gambling site that named a Bolivian monkey and Stephen Colbert giving a species his own name. Colbert came out on top getting to use his humorous ways to name the species Stephen Colbert.