【Lily LaBeau Archives】

Sir David Attenborough has had numerous species named after him,Lily LaBeau Archives but now he can add another one to his resumé. And it pleases him.

The legendary nature filmmaker has had a newly-discovered snail named after him, which is only found in a small area in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia.

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It's called Attenborougharion rubicundus, which wasdiscovered in Dec 2016 by scientists from the Australian Museum Research Institute.

It measures 35-45 millimetres (1.3-1.7 inches) long, with a thin, reduced shell and a brightly coloured red and green body.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Attenborough was bestowed with the genus by Sydney's Australian Museum on Wednesday, where he was also awarded the honour of Lifetime Patron.

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"There is no one else -- you have no peer," Catherine Livingstone AO, the Australian Museum Trust's President, said in a statement.

"Australia and the international community have benefited from your curiosity, knowledge, and unending commitment to the natural world to bring us the stories, and make us aware of the challenges we face, in a way that no one else has been able to do."

The snail joins a host of species named after him, including the Electrotettix attenboroughigrasshopper and Nepenthes attenboroughiipitcher plant.

"Attenborougharion rubicunduswill be on my wall in pokerwork, and I hope a photograph, for a long time to come, and I accept it with the greatest of pleasure and utmost thanks to you all," Attenborough said.

With more than six decades of exceptional work showcasing the natural world, we're sure there will be plenty more species named in his honour where that came from.

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