For the next three weeks, citizen volunteers in the United Kingdom will be tallying the painted ladies, peacocks and brimstones they see, to help create a nationwide count — and soothe their souls.
Microleo attenboroughi was a tiny, marsupial lion that lived some 18 million years ago. Paleontologists in Australia said they named it after the famed naturalist "for his dedication and enthusiasm."
Boaty McBoatface received more than 124,000 votes in an online poll by Britain's Natural Environment Research Council — more than 10 times the 11,000 votes for Attenborough's name.
The 89-year-old British naturalist's two-part special explores fossil evidence on how evolution moved past bugs and worms and trilobites, and how the Chinese are helping fill gaps in that knowledge.