These plant 'Twins' are named after Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Okay, so 1988's Twins mightn't be the most critically acclaimed film of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny Devito's career.
Still, it's inspired an Australian scientist to name a genus of Australian pea flowers, Daviesia schwarzenegger and devito, after the two actors in the film.
If you haven't seen the movie (and fair enough), Schwarzenegger and Devito discover they're twins -- a result of an embryo splitting during a science experiment to create the perfect child. However, the strength and intellect went to Schwarzenegger, while Devito was left with, well, the dregs.
It mirrors the story of these two species: Daviesia schwarzenegger is more robust and bigger than devito, the smaller and weaker of the pair (and possibly more of a small-time crook).
They're two of 131 sub-species in which Australian National University Professor Mike Crisp (presumably not related to Cullen Crisp, Sr., the villain in Kindergarten Cop) have identified in the genus of Davesia, which are found in the south-east of Australia -- and are in danger.
"Both species are at risk of extinction, because they appear to be confined to tiny remnant patches of bushland in a region that is largely cleared for wheat farming," Professor Crisp said in a statement.
"These plants are ecologically important members of the communities of plants in which they grow. They're nitrogen fixers, playing an important role in the Mallee region where the top soil is very denuded and the nutrients are depleted. It's essential to have nitrogen fixers to replace those nutrients."
Now, surely there must be an unnamed male species out there that can give birth. Or a plant that dresses up as an action hero, because he can't get his kid the most wanted toy for Christmas.
You get the joke.
Topics Film
